How Do I Get My Military Retirement 1099-R? myPay, Phone, and Mail

To get your military retirement 1099-R, log in to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service’s myPay portal and download the PDF, or if you can’t use myPay, request a paper copy from DFAS by phone, mail, fax, or the AskDFAS secure messaging system. The online version is the fastest: DFAS posted retiree 1099-R forms to myPay on December 16, 2025 for the 2025 tax year, roughly six weeks before paper copies mailed out.¹

Getting It From myPay

Log in at the myPay website, open the tax statement section, and select 1099-R. Pick the tax year you need and myPay generates a PDF you can download or print.² Save a copy to your own computer or a flash drive so you still have it if the portal is down when you need it.

MyPay keeps up to four prior years of tax statements on file, so you can pull an older 1099-R if you need one for an amended return or your records.³

If You Can’t Log In

If you’ve never used myPay, you need an initial temporary password before you can do anything else. On the myPay homepage, click “Forgot or Need a Password,” enter your Social Security number and one other piece of identifying information, and choose to have the temporary password mailed to the address DFAS has on record. It arrives in about 10 business days.⁴ Then return to myPay, click “Create your myPay Profile,” and set a permanent login ID and password.

If you already have an account but forgot your credentials, use “Forgot Login ID” or “Forgot or Need a Password” on the homepage. After you supply identifying information, you can answer your security questions or receive a temporary password by text, email, or mail.⁵ Plan ahead. If your account is locked and you have to wait for a mailed password, you could be looking at a two-week delay right when you need the form.

Requesting a Paper Copy by Phone

If myPay isn’t an option, the fastest alternative is the DFAS automated phone system at 800-321-1080. From the main menu:⁶

Press 1 for Self-Serve
Press 1 to request copies of your tax documents
Press 1 for 1099-R
Enter your Social Security number when prompted

The system is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Your 1099-R should arrive in the mail within 7 to 10 business days at whatever address DFAS has on file for you. One catch: telephone reissue requests generally can’t be fulfilled until early February, so if you’re calling in January for the current tax year, you may have to wait.⁶

Requesting by Mail, Fax, or AskDFAS

You can also request a duplicate 1099-R by sending a short letter to DFAS. Include your full name, Social Security number, mailing address, signature, and the date.⁷ Mail or fax it to:

Defense Finance and Accounting Service
U.S. Military Retired Pay
8899 E. 56th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46249-1200
Fax: 800-469-6559⁸

If you’re comfortable online but locked out of myPay, AskDFAS is a good middle ground. Submit a ticket through the DFAS website requesting a tax statement reissue and select the reason your original is unavailable. For the 2025 tax year, AskDFAS reissue requests opened on February 9, 2026.⁹

Make Sure Your Address Is Current

This is where things go wrong for a lot of retirees. If DFAS doesn’t have your correct mailing address, the paper 1099-R goes to the wrong place, and you may not realize it until you’re scrambling at tax time. Address changes submitted through myPay take effect quickly; without a myPay account, an update can take more than 30 days to process.¹⁰

DFAS recommends submitting address changes by early December so they take effect before tax statements go out. If you missed that window, you can still view your 1099-R on myPay or request a duplicate. Update your address first, though, or the duplicate will go to the old address too. Without myPay, complete a Retiree Change of Address/State Tax Withholding Request (DD Form 2866) and mail or fax it to the Indianapolis address above.¹¹

If Your Form Is Missing, Wrong, or Late

If your 1099-R never arrives and you can’t access myPay, verify your address with DFAS first, then request a duplicate using any of the methods above. If the form arrives but the numbers look wrong, you can call DFAS at 800-321-1080, submit a secure message through AskDFAS, or mail a written inquiry to Indianapolis.⁸

If the filing deadline is approaching and you still don’t have a correct 1099-R, the IRS lets you file using Form 4852 as a substitute. Before going that route, you have to make a genuine effort to get the correct form from DFAS. If the form still hasn’t arrived by the end of February, call the IRS at 800-829-1040. The IRS will contact DFAS on your behalf and send you a blank Form 4852.¹² When filling it out, you’ll need to explain how you estimated the amounts and what steps you took to get the real form. Use your Retiree Account Statements from myPay to reconstruct the numbers as accurately as possible. The IRS can impose penalties for inaccurate information on a Form 4852.

Survivors and Beneficiaries

If you receive payments through the Survivor Benefit Plan, your 1099-R comes through a separate annuitant login on myPay, not the retiree side. DFAS posts annuitant 1099-R forms on the same mid-December schedule as retiree forms.¹ The customer service number is still 800-321-1080.⁷ Mail requests go to a different address:

Defense Finance and Accounting Service
U.S. Military Annuitant Pay
8899 E. 56th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46249-1300
Fax: 800-982-8459¹¹

When a retiree dies, any final retired pay is reported on a 1099-R issued in the name of the beneficiary, trust, or estate receiving the payment, not in the deceased retiree’s name.¹³ If you’re handling a deceased retiree’s affairs, call DFAS at 800-321-1080 for help getting that final 1099-R. Representatives will verify your status as a beneficiary before releasing any tax information.

1
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. DFAS Announces 2025 Tax Statement Release Schedule
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Taxes Tax Documents
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Tax Documents
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. New to myPay – How to Get Started
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. myPay Login Assistance
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Telephone Self-Service
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. 1099R Request FAQ
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. 1099R and W2 Tax Statement Requests
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Tax Statement Reissue Requests
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Retiree Tax Statements – What You Need to Know
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Change of Address
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 4852 – Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, or Form 1099-R
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498