I received a lump sum last year which included 2020-2017. Now when I put in the lump sum which is box 5 on my SSA 1099 (which includes the payments I was supposed to get for those years) how do I know that when I put in the lump sums for the other years, the software isn't counting those as separate payments? It seems like it is adding the included payments as separate payments.
A lump-sum payment is a one-time Social Security payment that you received for prior-year benefits. This period could cover months or years.
After you enter your SSA-1099 information, we'll ask if you received a lump-sum Social Security payment. If you did, answer Yes and follow the instructions.
Your SSA-1099 lump-sum section breaks down the payments into what amount was received for each preceding year.
You can only enter one year at a time. If you need to enter benefits received for a different tax year, select Add another lump-sum payment.
thanks, to add to the question. Once I do that it says "if you received benefits in 2019 that were already reported on your 2019 tax return, there will be an amount in box 5 of your Form SSA-1099." problem is the benefits were all received in 2020 for the past 3 years my case was pending. So I never received a 2019 SSA so I don't know what to write in that.
"Amount in box 5 of John's 2019 Form SSA-1099"