What Does a 1099-R Look Like? Boxes, Codes, and Corrections

A Form 1099-R is a one-page IRS information return with a block at the top identifying the payer and recipient and a grid of numbered boxes below it. Those boxes show how much you received from a retirement account during the year, how much of it is taxable, how much federal (and sometimes state) tax was already withheld, and a code in Box 7 that tells the IRS why the money came out. What a 1099-R looks like is the same across payers because the IRS sets the layout; only the numbers and codes change. You get one if a pension, IRA, 401(k), annuity, or similar account paid you $10 or more during the year.¹

The Header: Payer, Recipient, and Copies

The top of the form has two identification blocks. The Payer block lists the financial institution, insurance company, or plan administrator that sent the money, along with its federal tax identification number. The Recipient block lists your name, address, and Social Security number. Check both before you do anything else. If either taxpayer identification number is wrong, contact the payer right away, because the IRS matches those numbers against your return.

Payers must get your copy to you by January 31 of the year after the distribution.² The form comes in several copies. Copy A goes to the IRS. Copy B is yours to attach to your federal return if federal tax was withheld. Copy C is for your records. If your state has income tax, Copies 1 and 2 handle state and local filing.³

At the very top you may see a “CORRECTED” checkbox. If it’s ticked, that form replaces the original the payer sent earlier. Use only the corrected version.⁴

The Money Boxes

The dollar amounts sit in the first several numbered boxes. Together they answer three questions: how much came out, how much is taxable, and how much tax was already taken.

Box 1 — Gross Distribution. The total paid out before anything was withheld. It includes cash, the fair market value of any property, and any amount held back for taxes.⁴

Box 2a — Taxable Amount. The portion subject to income tax. For most traditional IRA distributions Box 2a equals Box 1, because the account was funded entirely with pre-tax dollars. The two numbers only diverge when you have basis in the account, meaning after-tax or nondeductible contributions that shouldn’t be taxed on the way out.

Box 2b — Taxable Amount Not Determined. A checkbox. If it’s marked, the payer didn’t calculate the taxable portion and you have to. For traditional IRAs, that means tracking your basis on Form 8606.⁴ A second checkbox in the same area, “Total distribution,” is ticked when the payment closed the account.

Box 4 — Federal Income Tax Withheld. Federal tax already taken from the distribution. It counts as a tax payment on your return.

Box 5 — Employee Contributions or Insurance Premiums. The portion of the payout that represents your own after-tax contributions, designated Roth contributions, or insurance premiums returning to you. A number here is basis coming back and generally isn’t taxable.

Box 6 — Net Unrealized Appreciation. Only appears when you received employer stock from a plan like a 401(k). NUA is the growth in the stock’s value while it sat inside the plan. That growth isn’t taxed when the shares leave the plan; you owe long-term capital gains only when you sell.⁵

Box 9b — Total Employee Contributions. Optional. When filled in, it shows your lifetime after-tax or Roth contributions and feeds the Simplified Method calculation for annuity payments.

Box 7: The Distribution Code

Box 7 is the most consequential box on the form. It holds one or two characters that tell the IRS why the money left the account. The code drives whether you owe the 10% additional tax on early distributions and shapes how the payout is reported.⁶

Regular Distributions

Code 1 — Early distribution, no known exception. The payer is flagging a payment taken before age 59½ that looks subject to the 10% additional tax. If you actually qualify for an exception the payer doesn’t know about, you claim it when you file.

Code 2 — Early distribution, exception applies. The payer knows an exception fits. Common cases: separating from your employer during or after the year you turned 55, or receiving a series of substantially equal periodic payments. The age-55 exception works only for employer plans, not IRAs.⁷

Code 3 — Disability. Distribution made because of total and permanent disability. No early withdrawal penalty.

Code 4 — Death. Paid to a beneficiary or estate. No penalty regardless of the recipient’s age.

Code 7 — Normal distribution. You were 59½ or older, or you’re receiving regular annuity payments. No additional tax. Required Minimum Distributions carry this code too.

Rollovers

Code G — Direct rollover. The funds moved straight from one retirement plan to another. The money never touched your hands, so nothing is taxable and nothing was withheld.

Code H — Direct rollover of a designated Roth account to a Roth IRA. The Roth-to-Roth version of Code G. Not a taxable event.

Roth IRA

Code J — Early distribution from a Roth IRA, no known exception. A pre-59½ Roth IRA withdrawal that doesn’t meet the five-year holding rule. Roth ordering rules generally return contributions first (tax- and penalty-free), then conversions, then earnings; only the earnings piece of a non-qualified withdrawal is potentially taxable and subject to the 10% penalty.

Code T — Roth IRA distribution, exception applies. A Roth IRA payout where the payer knows an exception to the early withdrawal penalty is met.

Corrective and Special Codes

Code 8 — Excess contributions returned in the current year. You over-contributed and the excess plus earnings were returned before the filing deadline. Earnings are taxable in the year the contribution was made.⁴

Code P — Excess contributions returned, taxable in a prior year. Same situation as Code 8 but the excess is taxable in the previous year. Seeing Code P can mean amending a prior return.

Code L — Plan loan treated as a distribution. A defaulted loan from a 401(k) or similar plan. The outstanding balance becomes taxable and can trigger the 10% early withdrawal tax if you’re under 59½. A deemed distribution from a defaulted loan cannot be rolled over.

Code Y — Qualified Charitable Distribution. Starting with the 2025 tax year, payers use Code Y alongside Code 7 (or Code 4 for inherited IRAs) to flag QCDs, direct transfers from an IRA to a qualifying charity for account owners 70½ or older. The transferred amount is excluded from income and counts toward the RMD, up to an annual cap that adjusts for inflation.⁸

Codes can appear in pairs when more than one describes the payment. A distribution to the estate of a deceased account owner taken early, for instance, will carry more than one character in Box 7.

The IRA/SEP/SIMPLE Checkbox

Just below Box 7 sits a checkbox labeled “IRA/SEP/SIMPLE.” When ticked, the money came from an Individual Retirement Arrangement rather than an employer plan. That distinction changes which penalty exceptions apply and how the distribution can be rolled over. The age-55 separation exception, for example, does not apply when this box is checked.⁷

State and Local Tax Boxes

Boxes 14 through 19 handle state and local income tax. The IRS doesn’t require payers to fill them in, but many do.⁴ Box 14 shows state tax withheld, Box 15 shows the state name and payer’s state ID, and Box 16 shows the state distribution amount. Boxes 17 through 19 do the same for local tax. You’ll need these figures for your state return.

If the Form Is Wrong or Missing

Read the payer and recipient identification first. A wrong Social Security number, a misspelled name, or an incorrect payer TIN needs to be fixed by the payer, because the IRS matches those numbers against what you file.

If January 31 passes with no 1099-R, contact the payer. If nothing has arrived by the end of February, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 with your name, address, Social Security number, and the payer’s name and contact information. The IRS will reach out to the payer for you.⁹

If the form still hasn’t shown up by the filing deadline, file on time using Form 4852 as a substitute. You’ll estimate the amounts from account statements or distribution confirmations and explain on the form how you arrived at the numbers.¹⁰ If the real 1099-R arrives later and the boxes don’t match your estimate, file Form 1040-X to amend. The same goes for a corrected 1099-R that reaches you after you’ve filed: check every box against what you reported, and amend if the taxable amount or withholding changed.

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. General Instructions for Certain Information Returns (2025)
3
Internal Revenue Service. Form 1099-R
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2025)
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Internal Revenue Service. Notice 98-24
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 72 – Annuities; Certain Proceeds of Endowment and Life Insurance Contracts
7
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
8
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498
9
Internal Revenue Service. What to Do When a W-2 or Form 1099 Is Missing or Incorrect
10
Internal Revenue Service. Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, or Form 1099-R