topic Division of Military Retirement WITHOUT DFAS paying the ex-spouse in Retirement tax questions

Division of Military Retirement WITHOUT DFAS paying the ex-spouse

TSDunmire70 — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 18:03:45 GMT

I divorced my ex-wife back in 2001 and retired from the Military in 2010. She receives a portion of my retirement but it is not paid to her directly from DFAS, but rather an allotment I setup through them. We were told she could not get paid directly from DFAS even with a CDRO. DFAS cannot make automatic payments/division of Military Retirement without meeting the 10/10 requirement (10 years married/with 10 years total service time)

I usually report it as alimony/other payments. How do I report it with a 1099-R from DFAS? Have I been doin this wrong?

Respectfully

TSDunmire70

Re: Division of Military Retirement WITHOUT DFAS paying the ex-spouse

DaveF1006 — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 22:54:03 GMT

Here is how to report your 1099R.

1. Open TurboTax and Start Your Tax Return:

Log into TurboTax and start a new tax return or continue your existing one.
Navigate to the Wages & Income Section:
From the main menu, select "Federal Taxes" (or "Income & Expenses" if you're using a later version).
Under the "Income" section, find and click on "Distributions" or "Retirement Plans and Social Security" (the wording may vary depending on the version of TurboTax you are using).

Enter 1099-R Information:

Look for an option that says "IRA, 401(k), Pension Plan" and select it.
When prompted to enter information about your 1099-R, you'll be asked to input the details from the form.

Input the 1099-R Details:

TurboTax will ask you to enter the information from your 1099-R form. This includes:
- Payer’s name and address (from the 1099-R form).
- Box 1: Gross distribution (this is the total amount).
- Box 2a: Taxable amount (this is usually the taxable amount from your military pension).
- Box 7: Distribution code (for military retirement, it typically shows "2" or "7," depending on whether it is an early or regular distribution).

Special Handling for Military Retirement:

If you have a military retirement, TurboTax may ask if your distribution is from a military pension or a similar retirement plan. Select "Yes" if this applies to you.

Now since this was money that was paid to your ex-wife as alimony, you may exclude the taxable amount that is on Box 2A according to IRS Topic 452.

Log into your account
Select Wages and income
Less Common income
Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099>start
Scroll to the bottom of the page to Other Reportable Income
Other taxable income, answer yes
Then give a brief description of the income and the amount listed.
Once this appears in a summary screen, click on the Add Miscellaneous Income Item and
then record it as DFAS 1099R Income paid to ex-wife as Alimony in the dialogue box provided and record the taxable amount in Box 2A of the 1099R with a minus sign in front of the amount. Don't place a dollar sign in front of the amount.

Re: Division of Military Retirement WITHOUT DFAS paying the ex-spouse

VolvoGirl — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 23:18:32 GMT

@DaveF1006 The amount to the ex probably won't be the full amount in box 2a but only the amount they paid to the ex.

Re: Division of Military Retirement WITHOUT DFAS paying the ex-spouse

DaveF1006 — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 23:24:08 GMT

To clarify, was the full amount of the 1099R paid directly to your spouse or only a portion of the amount?

@TSDunmire70