Where do I enter Form 1099-R in TurboTax?
Form 1099-R reports retirement plan transacations made during the 2011 tax year, including:
- Distributions - payments made to you from your retirement plan during the year.
- Contributions - additional amounts you put in an approved retirement plan during 2011. Contributions may also be made in 2012 for the 2011 tax year up to the tax filing deadline (April 17, 2012), and are then reported on a 2012 Form 1099-R as made for 2011.
- Conversions - the amount moved from a traditonal retirement plan to a Roth IRA.
- Rollovers - the process of moving your retirement savings plan into another plan.
- Recharacterization - a taxpayer elects to redefine a conversion or contribution already made to meet certain rules for distributions.
In all of these transactions, the distribution codes in box 7 determine the taxable status of the transaction. Be sure you enter the correct code for the correct handling of the transaction.
Tip: Between December 31st and the tax filing deadline, taxpayers can add to or change contributions to certain 2011 retirement plans. This can allow fine tuning a retirement plan's tax impact. For example, you may be able to reduce your 2011 tax due if your tax situation allows making additional 2011 plan contributions in 2012. TurboTax helps guide you but allow time, as 2012 contributions for 2011 must be processed by the financial firm before end-of-business on April 17th!
Rollovers occur when you receive a distribution of retirement plan assets and within 60 days reinvest (deposit) the total distribution in another eligible retirement plan. Typically you get two reporting forms; one shows the distribution, the other, a contribution to an eligible plan. With rollovers, the IRS often requires withholding for possible taxes and/or penalties. You must add this amount back to deposit the total distribution amount. If the rollover deposit is less than the total distribution amount, the missing (whithheld) amount may be treated as taxable income.
Note: Transfers from one plan to another can also be done as a Trustee-to-trustee transfer where you never see the money. These are not taxable and are not reported on a Form 1099-R
You may also get a Form 5498 about your retirement plans. This form is for information only, and is not entered on your tax return. Save Form 5498 with your records.
Canadian retirement distributions can also be entered in this area of TurboTax. Enter "canadian pensions" in the search box at the upper right of the program.
For more information about retirement plans, see IRS Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRA).
About Form 1099-R
Form 1099-R has several variations for reporting distributions (payments) from retirement benefit and profit sharing plans, IRAs, Insurance contracts, pensions, and annuities. Often these payments are taxable. Sometimes the payment or a portion of the payment may not be taxable, depending on the plan and the reason for the payments.
Although railroad retirement pensions are reported on Form RRB-1099-R and civil service retirement annuities are reported on either Forms CSA-1099-R or CSF-1099-R, these are considered to be 1099-R forms.
In TurboTax, find the Form 1099-R entry area under:
- Federal Taxes tab (Personal Tab in Home & Business product),
- Wages & Income button, click on Explore on My Own.
- Retirement Plans and Social Security area.
You can also find the Your 1099-R screen by entering "1099-r" or "1099-r distribution" in the search box at the upper right of your program and clicking Find.
There are two lines for reporting and handling various 1099-R forms, plus a line for for delayed taxes on prior year conversions.
2010 Conversion (Taxable in 2011 & 2010)
Do not enter new retirement distributions or Form 1099-Rs here. This line is only for entering any remaining tax payments postponed from prior year retirement plan distributions.
For more information, see 2010 Conversions to Roth IRAs and Designated Roths: Payments in 2011.
Social Security (SSA-1099, RRB-1099)
Select Start (Update) next to the line. Select the form(s) you received, then enter the amounts and answer any additional questions about lump sum payments. This RRB-1099 typically includes a box 11, not a box 12.
For Information about form RRB-1099, see Information About Railroad Retirement Benefits (RRB-1099).
For more Information about form SSA-1099, see Information About SSA-1099.
IRA, 401(k), Pension Plans (1099-R)
This form and its' variations are generally “retirement” income, but the 1099-R includes rollovers to another retirement account. Distributions (payments) on Forms 1099-R or CSA-1099-R (Civil Service Retirees), or CSF-1099-R (survivors of Civil Service employees), and some RRB-1099-Rs (Railroad Retirement Board), cover retirement income from:
- IRA and 401(k) Distributions from retirement plans (might be for rollovers into another plan).
- Annuities (a type of insurance contract assuring you a series of payments) — you may need to provide initial cost (basis) information.
- Pension plans, including military
- Life insurance proceeds
- Certain disaster area distributions or repayments
Canadian retirement and pension distributions
After the Form 1099-R entries is a question about Canadian retirement plans; most will answer No. If you have a Canadian Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) or Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF), check Yes and continue.
In TurboTax, quickly access the Canadian Retirement Plans or Funds interview by entering "canadian pensions" in the search box at the upper right of the program.
