Form 1099-R FAQ
Form 1099-R is the Internal Revenue Service form reporting a taxpayer’s distributions from pensions, annuities, IRAs, insurance contracts, profit-sharing plans and/or retirement plans (including section 457 state and local government plans).
Your Form 1099-R will be mailed by January 31 to your address on file. You may view and print your Form 1099-Rs for 2025 and prior tax years on myCalSTRS. Your 2025 Form 1099-R will be available online by January 31, 2026.
Your 1099-R may include information about multiple payment types. Because our myCalSTRS system was recently updated, it now consolidates payments from multiple benefit types into a single form.
Reading your Form 1099-R
Your Form 1099-R includes payments issued from January 1 through December 31.
The payment issued January 1 for the month of December of the prior year will be included on the Form 1099-R for the year the payment was issued.
Our system was updated in 2025. If you are receiving benefits from multiple payment types, these payments may be consolidated into a single Form 1099-R. Examples of consolidated payments are Service Retirement, Defined Benefit Service Retirement, Cash Balance, and direct lump sum payments of these benefits. These payments share the same distribution code in Box 7 on the 1099-R.
- If there is an amount in box 5, it is the Gross Distribution (box 1) minus Taxable Amount (box 2a).
- The total excludable distributions for the year using the Simplified Method.
The Pension and Annuity Income IRS publication provides detailed information on nontaxable contributions.
The following codes identify the distribution you received. Refer to the following distribution codes for more detail:
1 – Early distribution, no known exception
2 – Early distribution, exception applies
3 – Disability
4 – Payment to beneficiary or beneficiaries based upon death of an active or retired CalSTRS member
7 – Normal distribution
G – Direct rollover
If a total distribution was made to more than one person, the percentage you received is shown.
Amount of previously taxed contributions remaining after the Simplified Method exclusion.
Other information and questions
CalSTRS issues a separate form for payments that were processed as rollover and Disability Allowance. These payments do not share the same distribution code. View an example of the form.
Your 1099-R may include information about multiple payment types. Because our myCalSTRS system was recently updated, it now consolidates payments from multiple benefit types into a single form.
Unfortunately, we cannot provide a separate form if the payments share the same distribution code.
If repayments or recoveries were received in 2025 for an overpayment in 2025, the amount collected is factored into the calculation of your Gross Distribution (Box 1) and Taxable (Box 2a) on your 2025 Form 1099-R. Repayment is a payment made from the funds of the benefit recipient made to CalSTRS, usually via check. This also applies to recoveries from benefits payable in 2025 that were applied to overpayments from a prior year.
Repayments received in 2025 for overpayments in year(s) prior to 2025 are not reflected on your 2025 Form 1099-R. We are unable to change your prior year Form 1099-R per IRS regulations. CalSTRS sends an acknowledgment letter for the total repayment amount of $3,000 or more received in 2025 for prior year overpayment(s).
Please note: The tax treatment of these repayments was changed due to federal tax legislation passed in 2017, which became effective in 2018.
- You may be entitled to recover taxes you paid.
- Consult a tax professional to use the letter when filing your tax return.
These deductions are not required by the IRS. Check your payment stubs for deduction details.
Form 1099-R is no longer printed and mailed in a pressure sealed envelope. Your Form 1099-R is now printed on plain paper and mailed in a 6” x 9.5” envelope with the same copies B and C printed on a single page with instructions on the back. This change is due to supply chain limitations related to procurement of paper stock.
When to contact CalSTRS
You may view and print your Form 1099-Rs for 2025 and prior tax years on myCalSTRS. Your 2025 Form 1099-R will be available online by January 31, 2026.
In addition, duplicate Form 1099-Rs can be requested in writing. All written requests must include your:
- Name
- Client ID or last four digits of your Social Security number
- Tax year requested
- Mailing address
- Daytime phone number
- Signature and signature date
Mail written requests to:
CalSTRS
P.O. Box 15275
Sacramento, CA 95851-0275
If you are looking to get a duplicate tax form for a member who is deceased, fill out the Request for Duplicate Tax Form of Decedent form and submit the appropriate documentation along with the request.
The Request for Duplicate Tax Form of Decedent form can be downloaded and printed from our website at CalSTRS.com/Forms.
- Contact the Customer Service Contact Center to speak to one of our agents, who will be able to update your address over the phone. To do so, you must provide a valid email address.
- You may change your own address to mail your Form 1099-R online if you are a registered myCalSTRS user. You can register for myCalSTRS online.
- You may also request to receive an Address Change Request form in the mail by sending a written request to CalSTRS, P.O. Box 15275, Sacramento, CA 95851-0275.
- An Address Change Request form may also be requested by sending an online message via your myCalSTRS account or by calling the CalSTRS Customer Service Contact Center at 800-228-5453.
To receive your Form 1099-R in a timely manner, please make sure your address is current.