What Is Form 1099-R: Boxes, Codes, and Filing

Form 1099-R is the IRS form that reports money you received during the year from a retirement account, pension, annuity, profit-sharing plan, or insurance contract. Any distribution of $10 or more triggers the form, and the plan administrator or financial institution that paid you must send you a copy by January 31.¹ The IRS gets an identical copy, so the numbers on your tax return need to line up with what the form shows. Getting a box wrong, or ignoring the form entirely, is one of the fastest ways to draw an IRS notice.

Receiving a 1099-R does not automatically mean you owe tax. Direct rollovers, returns of after-tax contributions, and qualified Roth distributions all generate the form without adding a dollar to your bill. The trick is reading it correctly.

Who Sends the Form

You will get a 1099-R from just about any institution or employer plan that paid you a retirement-type distribution. That includes 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans, traditional pensions, profit-sharing plans, and every flavor of IRA: traditional, SEP, SIMPLE, and Roth.¹ Commercial annuity issuers and life insurance carriers also file 1099-Rs on payments under their contracts, including disability payments made under a life insurance policy.²

If you took distributions from more than one account, expect a separate form from each payer. The forms should arrive in January, and most institutions also post them to your online account before mailing.

The Boxes That Actually Matter

The top of the form is housekeeping: your name, the payer’s name, and account numbers. The tax math starts a few boxes down.

Box 1: Gross Distribution

Box 1 shows the total amount paid out before any tax was withheld.³ It is a raw number. It includes money you may have rolled over, after-tax contributions you already paid tax on, and amounts that may be entirely tax-free. Box 1 is your starting point, rarely your final answer.

Box 2a: Taxable Amount

Box 2a narrows Box 1 down to the portion that actually counts as taxable income.³ For a traditional 401(k) or IRA funded entirely with pre-tax money, Box 2a usually matches Box 1 because every dollar going in was tax-deferred. When the distribution includes after-tax contributions, Box 2a is lower because that portion comes back to you tax-free.

Sometimes the payer can’t figure out the taxable share. When that happens, Box 2a is left blank and the payer marks the Box 2b checkbox labeled “Taxable amount not determined.”⁴ The calculation then falls to you, and you may need IRS Publication 575 or Form 8606 to work it out.

Box 4: Federal Income Tax Withheld

Box 4 shows federal income tax already taken out of your distribution before it reached you.² It works like any other withholding: it reduces what you owe or increases your refund when you file.

One rule surprises a lot of people. If you take an eligible rollover distribution as a check payable to you instead of sending it directly to another retirement account, the plan must withhold 20% for federal tax even if you fully intend to roll it over within 60 days.⁵ To complete the rollover for the full amount, you have to make up that 20% out of pocket and claim the withheld amount back on your return.

Box 5: Employee Contributions and Insurance Premiums

Box 5 reports the portion of the distribution representing after-tax employee contributions, designated Roth account contributions, or insurance premiums you already paid tax on.⁶ This is the amount you can recover tax-free. For a non-qualified distribution from a designated Roth account, Box 5 shows your Roth contribution basis. For annuity payments, Box 5 helps establish the exclusion ratio that determines how much of each payment is taxable over time.

Boxes 14–17: State and Local Tax

Box 14 shows state income tax withheld. Box 15 identifies the state and the payer’s state ID number. Box 16 shows the amount subject to state tax, and Box 17 reports local tax withheld.⁷ These fields are often blank if your state has no income tax or does not require withholding on retirement distributions. The form includes two sets of state and local fields so a payer can report to two jurisdictions on one form.

What the Code in Box 7 Means

Box 7 is the most consequential field on the form. It carries a one- or two-character code telling the IRS why the money came out, whether a 10% early withdrawal penalty applies, and whether the amount can be rolled over. The most common codes are worth knowing on sight.

Code 1: Early Distribution, No Known Exception

You took money out before age 59½ and the payer knows of no reason you should be exempt from the 10% early withdrawal penalty.⁸ The penalty applies on top of regular income tax on the taxable amount in Box 2a. If you actually qualify for an exception the payer didn’t know about, such as qualifying medical expenses or a first-time home purchase, you have to file Form 5329 to claim it.⁹

Code 2: Early Distribution, Exception Applies

Also a distribution before 59½, but the payer knows you qualify for a penalty exception.¹⁰ Common exceptions include total and permanent disability and a series of substantially equal periodic payments (72(t) payments).¹¹ You skip the 10% penalty, but the distribution is still taxable as ordinary income.

Code 4: Death Benefit to a Beneficiary

Code 4 appears when a beneficiary receives funds after the account owner dies.¹² No matter the beneficiary’s age, the 10% penalty never applies. The taxable portion in Box 2a is still subject to ordinary income tax unless the funds came from a Roth account that meets the five-year holding requirement.

Code 7: Normal Distribution

Code 7 is the code you want to see. It means you were at least 59½ or reached the plan’s normal retirement age.¹³ No early withdrawal penalty. You owe ordinary income tax on whatever Box 2a shows, and that is the end of it.

Code G: Direct Rollover

Code G means the money moved directly from one plan or IRA to another without passing through your hands.¹⁴ No tax, no penalty, no 20% mandatory withholding. You still report it on your return, but the taxable amount is zero.

Codes J, Q, and T: Roth IRA Distributions

Roth IRA distributions use one of three codes. Code Q marks a qualified distribution: the account has been open at least five years, and you are at least 59½, disabled, or the payment is to a beneficiary after death. A Code Q distribution is completely tax-free and penalty-free.¹⁵

Code T appears when the payer knows you meet the age, disability, or death requirement but is not sure the five-year holding period has been met. Code J is the early-distribution code for Roth IRAs: you took money out before satisfying the requirements for a qualified distribution and the payer knows of no exception.¹⁶ With Code J, your original Roth contributions still come out tax-free and penalty-free, but earnings may be taxable and subject to the 10% penalty.

Code 8: Return of Excess Contributions

Code 8 shows up when excess contributions or excess deferrals are returned to you, usually because you or your employer put too much into a 401(k) or IRA and the plan corrected it by sending the overage back along with the earnings on it.¹⁷ The tax treatment depends on the type of excess and when the correction happens.

Code L: Deemed Loan Distribution

If you borrowed from your 401(k) or 403(b) and the loan defaulted, whether because you left the job, stopped making payments, or ran past the repayment period, the outstanding balance is treated as a taxable distribution.¹⁸ Code L appears on your 1099-R even though you never received a check. The deemed distribution is taxed under normal rules and may trigger the 10% early withdrawal penalty if you are under 59½. A deemed loan distribution cannot be rolled over.

Putting the Numbers on Your Return

The gross distribution in Box 1 and the taxable amount in Box 2a go on separate lines of Form 1040, under either the IRA distributions section or the pensions and annuities section depending on the source.³ Federal tax withheld from Box 4 goes in the payments section of Form 1040 and reduces what you owe.

The Box 7 code drives whether the 10% additional tax applies. If your 1099-R shows Code 1 and you owe the penalty on the full amount, you can report it directly on Schedule 2 of your return without filing Form 5329.⁹ If you qualify for a penalty exception your payer didn’t know about, Form 5329 is the only way to claim it. Filing that form with the correct exception number is what keeps the IRS from assessing the penalty automatically.

When Box 2b is checked and Box 2a is blank, the calculation is yours. For traditional IRAs holding a mix of deductible and non-deductible contributions, Form 8606 walks through the math to separate the taxable portion. For pension annuity payments, IRS Publication 575 covers the simplified method most retirees use.

Situations the Form Won’t Flag

A few common transactions look ordinary on the 1099-R but need special handling when you file.

Qualified charitable distributions. If you are 70½ or older, you can direct up to $111,000 per year from a traditional IRA straight to a qualifying charity and exclude the amount from gross income.¹⁹ The 1099-R will not flag it. There is no code in Box 7 for a charitable distribution, so the form looks like any other IRA withdrawal. You report the full distribution on the IRA distributions line, enter zero (or the reduced taxable amount) on the taxable amount line, and write “QCD” next to it.²⁰ Keep the written acknowledgment from the charity; the IRS has no other way to verify the transfer.

Roth conversions. Moving money from a traditional IRA or 401(k) into a Roth IRA generates a 1099-R. The full conversion amount is in Box 1, the taxable portion in Box 2a (often with Box 2b checked), and Box 7 shows Code 2 if you were under 59½ or Code 7 if you were older.²¹ The converted amount is taxable as ordinary income in the year of conversion, but no 10% penalty applies.

Indirect rollovers. If you take a distribution as a check and redeposit it into another retirement account, you have 60 days to complete the rollover or the full amount becomes a taxable distribution. You are also limited to one indirect IRA-to-IRA rollover in any 12-month period across all your IRAs combined. That limit does not apply to direct trustee-to-trustee transfers, Roth conversions, or rollovers between employer plans and IRAs.²² Violating the one-per-year rule turns the second rollover into a taxable distribution and, if deposited into an IRA anyway, an excess contribution subject to a 6% penalty each year it sits there.

Required minimum distributions. Once you reach age 73, mandatory withdrawals from traditional IRAs and most employer plans show up on your 1099-R as ordinary Code 7 distributions.²³ There is no distribution code that identifies a payment as an RMD; your IRA custodian instead checks a box on the companion Form 5498 to indicate an RMD was required for the year.²⁴ Missing an RMD carries a 25% excise tax on the shortfall, dropping to 10% if you correct it within a timely window.²⁵

If the Form Is Wrong or Never Arrives

Errors on 1099-Rs are more common than people expect. A wrong amount in Box 1 or 2a, an incorrect distribution code, or a form that never shows up can all create problems, because the IRS already has its copy and will match it to your return.

If the numbers look wrong, contact the payer and request a corrected version. A corrected form has a “CORRECTED” checkbox marked at the top. Do not file using numbers you know are wrong; wait for the correction or file an extension.

If the form never arrives, contact the payer first. If you still don’t have it by the end of February, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 with the payer’s name, address, and phone number along with your own information. The IRS will contact the payer and send you Form 4852, which serves as a substitute for the missing 1099-R.²⁶ You use Form 4852 to estimate the distribution and attach it to your return.²⁷ If a corrected form later shows different numbers, file an amended return on Form 1040-X.

Ignoring the form is the worst option. The IRS already has the data, and an unreported distribution can bring an accuracy-related penalty of 20% on the resulting underpayment,²⁸ on top of the tax owed and interest that keeps accruing until it’s paid.

1
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc.
2
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498
3
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2025)
4
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2025) – Section: Box 2a
5
eCFR. 26 CFR 31.3405(c)-1 – Withholding on Eligible Rollover Distributions
6
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2025) – Section: Box 5
7
Internal Revenue Service. Form 1099-R (2025)
8
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 – Section: Code 1
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5329
10
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 – Section: Code 2
11
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
12
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 – Section: Code 4
13
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 – Section: Code 7
14
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 – Section: Code G
15
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 – Section: Code Q
16
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 – Section: Code J
17
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 – Section: Code 8
18
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 – Section: Code L
19
Internal Revenue Service. Notice 25-67 – 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs
20
Internal Revenue Service. Seniors Can Reduce Their Tax Burden by Donating to Charity Through Their IRA
21
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 – Section: Reporting Roth IRA Conversions
22
Internal Revenue Service. Rollovers of Retirement Plan and IRA Distributions – Section: IRA One-Rollover-Per-Year Rule
23
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
24
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2025) – Section: Box 11
25
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4974 – Excise Tax on Certain Accumulations in Qualified Retirement Plans
26
Internal Revenue Service. What to Do When a W-2 or Form 1099 Is Missing or Incorrect
27
Internal Revenue Service. Form 4852 – Substitute for Form W-2 or Form 1099-R
28
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6662 – Imposition of Accuracy-Related Penalty on Underpayments