Understanding Your Form 1099-R Tour

Corrected Form 1099-R:	[ close window ]
If this box is checked it indicates that a corrected Form 1099-R was filed with the IRS. Corrections must be filed with the IRS as soon as possible after errors are discovered.

Copy B:

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Indicates that this is Copy B of your Form 1099-R and what should be attached to your Federal Income Tax Return. Additional copies include:

Copy A - Filed with IRS by Principal Trust/Delaware Charter
Copy 1 - Filed with your State, City, or Local Tax Department by Principal Trust/Delaware Charter
Copy B - To be attached to your Federal Income Tax Return
Copy C - To be kept for your personal records
Copy 2 - To be attached to your State, City, or Local Income Tax Return
Copy D - To be kept by Principal Trust/Delaware Charter

Recipient's Identification Number	[ close window ]
Shows your Social Security number used for tax identification purposes.

Payer's Federal Identification Number	[ close window ]
Shows Principal Trust/Delaware Charter's tax payers identification number.

Payer's name, street address, city, state, and ZIP code	[ close window ]
As trustee to your account, Principal Trust/Delaware Charter is the payer to your account. This field shows our legal name (Delaware Charter Guarantee & Trust Company) and our mailing address.

Box 1: Gross Distribution	[ close window ]
Shows the total amount of your distribution(s) before income tax or other deductions were withheld.

Box 2a: Taxable Amount	[ close window ]
Shows the total taxable amount of your gross distributions. This box may be blank if this is a distribution from an employer-sponsored plan or a Roth IRA.

Box 2b: Taxable Amount Not Determined	[ close window ]
This box is checked if we are unable to determine the taxable amount of the distribution. Total Distribution This box is checked if the payment shown in Box 1 is a total distribution. A total distribution is one or more distributions within one tax year in which the entire balance of the account is distributed.

Box 3: Capital Gain (Included in Box 2a)	[ close window ]
Shows any amount from a taxable gift annuity that is taxable as a capital gain. Participants born before 1936 or their beneficiaries may be eligible to elect capital gains treatment of lump sum distributions.

Box 4: Federal Income Tax Withheld	[ close window ]
Shows all Federal Income Tax withheld from your account.

Box 5: Employee Contributions
or Insurance Premiums

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Shows the employee's contributions to a profit sharing plan, or insurance premiums that the employee may recover tax free this year.

Box 5 includes any of the following A) after-tax contributions, B) contributions made by the employer but considered to be made by the employee under section 72(f), C) the accumulated cost of premiums paid for life insurance protection taxable to the employee in previous years and in the current year (only if the life insurance contract itself is distributed, and D) premiums paid on commercial annuities. Until the IRS issues further guidance, Box 5 also includes after-tax contributions to an IRA.

Box 6: Net Unrealized Appreciation in Employer's Securities	[ close window ]
This box shows the net unrealized appreciation (NUA) of any employer securities distributed to you. This box is blank if the payer is unable to determine the NUA amount.

Box 7: Distribution Code	[ close window ]
Shows the code used by the IRS to help determine if distributions have been reported properly. The various codes indicate what the distribution was for. In this case, "J" indicates that the distribution was an early distribution from a Roth IRA with no known exception. For an excerpt from the IRS Instructions for Form 1099-R and 5498 that lists all distribution tax codes, click here (PDF).

IRA/SEP/SIMPLE Check box	[ close window ]
Indicates if the distribution is from a traditional IRA, SEP IRA, or SIMPLE IRA

Box 9a: Your Percentage of Total Distribution	[ close window ]
If the distribution was a total distribution and was made to more than one person, this box shows the percentage distributed to the individual named on this Form 1099-R.

Box 11: State and Payer's State Identification Number	[ close window ]
This box is intentionally left blank; the IRS does not require this information.

Box 12: State Distribution	[ close window ]
Shows the amount of State and Local distribution, if any.

Box 9b: Total employee contributions	[ close window ]
This box is left intentionally blank; the IRS does not require this information.