1099 Information

The 1099-R form provides payees with detailed information on his or her income for the previous year. Payees may view or print a copy of their most recent 1099-R statement online, by logging into the OCERS member portal, myOCERS.

Detailed instructions are located on the reverse side of the 1099-R form.

Here is an easy-to-use guide on how to read your 1099-R:

Box 1 - Gross Distribution. This is the total amount of benefits paid to you by OCERS during the previous calendar year.

Box 2a - Taxable Amount. This is the taxable amount of your income. If you retired after January 1, 1993, the amount is reported less the Safe Harbor exclusion. If you retired prior to January 1, 1993, OCERS did not calculate nor report the taxable amount because of the multiple recovery methods.

Box 2b - Taxable Amount Not Determined. Box 2b is only checked if OCERS is unable to determine the taxability of the amount reported.

Box 3 - This box is left intentionally blank and is not applicable.

Box 4 - Federal Income Tax Withheld. This box shows any federal income tax withheld from your check during the year.

Box 5 - Employee Contributions. If there is an amount in box 5, it is not a deduction or an amount paid for an insurance premium. The amount in box 5 is the portion of your benefit that is non taxable. (If you subtract the amount in box 2a from box 1, you will have the amount shown in box 5) This was after tax money you contributed to OCERS. For retirees, this is the annual amount of your Safe Harbor tax recovery.

Box 6 - This box is not applicable to OCERS.

Box 7 - Distribution Code. IRS code identifying the distribution you received. These codes are explained on the back of the 1099-R Form.

Boxes- 8, 9a, 9b, 10, 11, 12 and 13 – These boxes are not applicable to OCERS.

Box 14 – California State Income Tax Withheld. Any California State income tax deducted from your checks is shown in this box.

Box 15 – OCERS’ state tax ID number.

Box 16 – California state taxable income. If you resided outside the State of California all year it will be blank. If you have had California state tax deducted this year, or resided in California a portion of the year, this box will reflect the total amount paid to you for the full year.

Boxes 17 through 19 – These three boxes are left intentionally blank and are not applicable to OCERS.