Annual 1099-R Tax Form
Each year a
1099-R tax form
will be distributed by January 31 as required by the Internal Revenue Service for the following types of
benefit disbursements.
- Service and Early Service Retirement pensions
- Ordinary and Work Related disability pensions
- Survivor Benefit disbursements
- DROP Lump Sum disbursements paid to the member
- Direct Rollovers
- Refunds of member contributions (pre and post tax) with interest
- Death Benefit payments
Should the need arise for a duplicate 1099-R, a written request must be submitted to the Richmond Retirement
System (RRS). All requests will be processed within five to seven business days.
You may find out more information about the reporting of your pension benefit from the
Internal Revenue Service.
Non-Taxable Pension
A non-taxable pension is not considered taxable income. Compensable disability retirement pensions are not
subject to Federal and state taxes.
If you contributed after-tax (post tax) dollars to RRS for any of the programs below, part of your pension will not be taxable. This
represents a return of the after-tax amount you paid. The city began pre-tax contributions on September 1, 2006.
- Enhanced Defined Benefit
- Directors' 2-for-1 Plan
- Purchase of Prior Service
Taxable Pension
Pensions paid to an employee by her/his former employer count as the employee's income and are generally taxable. Your taxable pension
amount is located in box 2a of your 1099-R tax form. You may choose not to have income tax withheld from your
pension.
To specify how taxes are to be withheld or to claim tax-exempt status, provide the RRS with a completed
Form W-4P (PDF), Withholding Certificate for Pension or Annuity Payments
and/or the Virginia State Tax Withholding Certificate.
Ordinary disability pensions are taxable.
Pre-Tax Healthcare Deductions
In January 2007, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 went into effect and included the Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety
(HELPS) Retirees Act. This act applies only to sworn police and fire retirees who meet either of the following two criteria.
- Retired with an unreduced pension
- Retired due to disability
The HELPS Act allows eligible retired public safety officers to pay for health insurance premiums, up to $3,000 per year, on a pre-tax basis
from their qualified government retirement plan. The premiums must be paid directly from your pension fund to a healthcare insurance company.
In order to receive this benefit, the eligible retiree must complete this one-time election form, the
Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety (HELPS) Participation Authorization form,
and return it to us at
Richmond Retirement System
900 E. Broad St., Room 400
Richmond, VA 23219
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