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Reporting and Withholding Requirements for Taxable Amounts: IRA Withdrawals (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Reporting and Withholding Requirements for Taxable Amounts” within ira withdrawals. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

Reporting and Withholding Requirements for Taxable Amounts

If you receive a distribution from your traditional IRA, you will receive Form 1099-R, or a similar statement. IRA distributions are shown in boxes 1 and 2a of Form 1099-R. A number or letter code in box 7 tells you what type of distribution you received from your IRA.

Number codes.

Some of the number codes are explained below. All of the codes are explained in the instructions for recipients on Form 1099-R.

  • 1—Early distribution, no known exception (in most cases, under age 59½).

  • 2—Early distribution, exception applies (under age 59½).

  • 3—Disability.

  • 4—Death.

  • 5—Prohibited transaction.

  • 7—Normal distribution.

  • 8—Excess contributions plus earnings/
    excess deferrals (and/or earnings)
    taxable in 2025.

Caution:

If code 1, 5, or 8 appears on your Form 1099-R, you are probably subject to an additional tax. If code 1 appears, see Early Distributions, later. If code 5 appears, see Prohibited Transactions, later. If code 8 appears, see Excess Contributions in chapter 1 of Pub. 590-A.

Letter codes.

Some of the letter codes are explained below. All of the codes are explained in the instructions for recipients on Form 1099-R.

  • B—Designated Roth account distribution.

  • G—Direct rollover of a distribution to a qualified plan, a section 403(b) plan, a governmental section 457(b) plan, or an IRA.

  • H—Direct rollover of a designated Roth account distribution to a Roth IRA or Roth SIMPLE IRA.

  • J—Early distribution from a Roth IRA or Roth SIMPLE IRA, no known exception (in most cases, under age 59½).

  • N—Recharacterized IRA contribution made for 2025
    and recharacterized in 2025.

  • P—Excess contributions plus earnings/excess deferrals (and/or earnings) taxable in 2024 or a previous year.

  • Q—Qualified distribution from a Roth IRA or Roth
    SIMPLE IRA.

  • R—Recharacterized IRA contribution made for 2024
    and recharacterized in 2025.

  • S—Early distribution from a SIMPLE IRA in the first
    2 years, no known exception (under age 59½).

  • T—Roth IRA or Roth SIMPLE IRA distribution, exception applies.

  • Y—Qualified charitable distribution (QCD) claimed by taxpayer under section 408(d)(8).

If the distribution shown on Form 1099-R is from your IRA, SEP IRA, or SIMPLE IRA, the small box in box 7 (labeled IRA/SEP/SIMPLE) should be marked with an “X.”

Caution:

If code J, P, or S appears on your Form 1099-R, you are probably subject to an additional tax. If code J appears, see Early Distributions, later. If code P appears, see Excess Contribution s in chapter 1 of Pub. 590-A. If code S appears, see Distributions (Withdrawals) in chapter 3 of Pub. 560.

Withholding.

Federal income tax is withheld from distributions from traditional IRAs unless you choose not to have tax withheld.

If you are receiving periodic payments (payments made in installments at regular intervals over a period of more than 1 year) use Form W-4P to have tax withheld from your IRA. The amount of tax withheld from an annuity or a similar periodic payment is based on your marital status and any adjustments you claim on your Form W-4P.

Complete Form W-4R to have taxes withheld from your nonperiodic payments or eligible rollover distribution from your IRA. Generally, tax will be withheld at a 10% rate on nonperiodic payments.

IRA distributions delivered outside the United States.

In general, if you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien and your home address is outside the United States or its territories, you can't choose exemption from withholding on distributions from your traditional IRA.

To choose exemption from withholding, you must certify to the payer under penalties of perjury that you aren't a U.S. citizen, a resident alien of the United States, or a tax-avoidance expatriate.

Even if this election is made, the payer must withhold tax at the rates prescribed for nonresident aliens.

More information.

For more information on withholding on pensions and annuities, see Pensions and Annuities in chapter 1 of Pub. 505. For more information on withholding on nonresident aliens and foreign entities, see Pensions, Annuities, and Alimony under Withholding on Specific Income in Pub. 515.

Reporting taxable distributions on your return.

Report fully taxable distributions, including early distributions, on Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR, line 4b (no entry is required on line 4a). If only part of the distribution is taxable, enter the total amount on Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR, line 4a, and enter the taxable part on Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR, line 4b.

Estate tax.

Generally, the value of an annuity or other payment receivable by any beneficiary of a decedent's traditional IRA that represents the part of the purchase price contributed by the decedent (or by their former employer(s)) must be included in the decedent's gross estate. For more information, see the instructions for Schedule I (Form 706).

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.

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