Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP16126081
Appendix

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rrb–1099  

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP44fc426e Box 3—Gross Social Security Equivalent Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Paid in 2004

Box 3—Gross Social Security Equivalent Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Paid in 2004

The figure shown in this box is the gross SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits or special guaranty benefits paid to you in 2004. It is the amount before any deductions were made for:

• Federal income tax withholding,
• Medicare premiums,
• Legal Process Garnishment payments,
• Legal Process Assignment payments,
• Recovery of an overpayment, including recovery of Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act benefits received while awaiting payment of your railroad retirement annuity, and
• Workers' compensation offset (explained in the description of box 6, later).

• Social security benefits,
• Age reduction,
• Public service pensions or public disability benefits,
• Dual railroad retirement entitlement under another RRB claim number,
• Work deductions,
• Actuarial adjustment,
• Annuity waiver, and
• Legal Process Partition payments.

Social security benefits paid through the RRB are not reported on Form RRB-1099 or RRB-1042S. They are reported on Form SSA-1099 or Form SSA-1042S issued by the SSA.

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Example 1.

For the period January through March 2004, you received $300 ($100 x 3 months) Railroad Unemployment Insurance. You were eligible for the SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits of $509 a month beginning January 1, 2004, but you did not receive your first payment until April 2004. The payment you received in April was for the first three months of 2004. However, because you received unemployment benefits during the same period, $300 was deducted from your initial benefit payment. Instead of receiving $1,527 ($509 x 3 months), you received $1,227 ($1,527− $300). For the months of April through November, you were paid your regular monthly SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits of $509. Box 3 of your Form RRB-1099 will show $5,599 ($509 × 11 months) as the gross SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits paid to you in 2004, even though you did not actually receive that amount. This is because box 3 shows the gross amount of your benefits before any reductions were made for the unemployment benefits paid to you.

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Example 2.

You received tier 1 benefits of $600 a month for the months of December 2003 through May 2004. Your $600 monthly tier 1 benefits consist of an SSEB portion of $250 and a non-social security equivalent benefit (NSSEB) portion of $350. Beginning in June 2004, you became entitled to Medicare, and $66.60 a month was deducted from your benefit checks for Medicare premiums. Therefore, the tier 1 payments you received for the rest of the year were $533.40 ($600 − $66.60) a month. Box 3 of your Form RRB-1099 will show the gross SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits of $3,000 ($250 × 12 months), because it is the gross SSEB amount before deductions for your Medicare premiums. Box 11 of your Form RRB-1099 will show your Medicare premiums of $399.60 ($66.60 × 6 months) deducted from June through November 2004. The remainder of your tier 1 payments, the NSSEB portion of $4,200 ($350 × 12 months), will be shown on the Form RRB-1099-R that you will receive along with your Form RRB-1099. The $4,200 is the gross NSSEB amount before deductions for your Medicare premiums. (The Medicare Premium Total box shown on your Form RRB-1099-R will be blank because the Medicare total will be shown in box 11 of your Form RRB-1099.) For more information on Form RRB-1099-R, see Publication 575.

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP2a519d4c Benefits paid for earlier years.

The figure in box 3 includes any lump-sum benefit payment you received in 2004 that is for an earlier year after 1983. If you received a payment for an earlier year, it will be shown in box 7, 8, or 9 (described later). See Lump-Sum Election, earlier, for information on how to treat the payment.

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP5ae5571a Box 4—Social Security Equivalent Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Repaid to RRB in 2004

Box 4—Social Security Equivalent Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Repaid to RRB in 2004

The figure shown in this box is the total SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits you repaid to the RRB in 2004. You may have repaid a benefit by returning a payment, making a cash refund, or having an amount withheld from your payments. In addition, an amount may have been withheld from your benefits to recover the SSEB overpayment incurred by someone else who is also receiving benefits under your claim number. Also, an amount may have been withheld from another benefit, such as a social security benefit, to recover an SSEB overpayment you received.

The amount in box 4 also includes any SSEB benefits you repaid in 2004 that were for 2004 or for one or more years before 2004. All tier 1 repayments for years before 1986 are treated entirely as SSEB benefits.

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Example 1.

You returned to work for your last railroad employer for the months of June through August 2004. The SSEB portion of your tier 1 benefits was $450 for each of those months. Since you are not allowed to receive benefits for any month you returned to railroad service, you have to make a repayment to the RRB. You returned the benefit payment for June through August 2004. Box 4 of your Form RRB-1099 will show $1,350 ($450 x 3 months) as the SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits you repaid to the RRB.

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Example 2.

From January through April 2004 you were overpaid $800 in the SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits. From May through August 2004, $200 a month was withheld from your benefit payment to fully recover the $800 overpayment. Box 4 of your Form RRB-1099 will show $800 ($200 x 4 months) as the SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits you repaid to the RRB.

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Example 3.

As a retired railroad employee, you have been receiving a railroad retirement annuity, including an SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits, since 2003. You also became entitled to, and received from the SSA, a social security benefit of $300 a month beginning May 1, 2004. SSA later authorized the RRB to pay that benefit. In August 2004, the RRB began paying your social security benefit to you and reduced the SSEB portion of your monthly tier 1 benefit by $300. Social security benefits of $900 ($300 × 3 months) covering the period May through July 2004 were kept by the RRB to offset your $900 SSEB overpayment for that same period. Box 4 of your Form RRB-1099 will show $900 as the SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits you repaid to the RRB. (Note. SSA will send you Form SSA-1099, which will include the $900 in benefits paid by them for the months of May through July 2004.)

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP5a048ed7 Box 5—Net Social Security Equivalent Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Paid in 2004

Box 5—Net Social Security Equivalent Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Paid in 2004

The figure shown in this box is the net amount of the SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits paid to you in 2004. It is the result of subtracting the amount in box 4 from the amount in box 3. If you received more than one Form RRB-1099 for 2004, you should add the amounts in box 5 of all Forms RRB-1099 to determine your net amount of SSEB payments for 2004. Use this amount to determine if any of your benefits are taxable. See Are Any of Your Benefits Taxable, earlier.

If parentheses are around the figure in box 5, it means that the figure in box 4 is larger than the figure in box 3. This is a negative figure and means you repaid more money than you received in 2004. For more information, see Repayments More Than Gross Benefits, earlier.

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP43caf280 Box 6—Workers' Compensation Offset in 2004

Box 6—Workers' Compensation Offset in 2004

The figure shown in this box is the amount you received in workers' compensation benefits during the year that was used to offset the full amount of your tier 1 payments. The SSEB portions of your tier 1 benefits shown in boxes 3 and 5 include amounts by which your SSEB payments were reduced for workers' compensation benefits. Your workers' compensation amount is shown in this box separately only for your information. If you did not receive workers' compensation benefits, box 6 is blank.

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Example.

For 2004, your tier 1 benefit of $450 a month is reduced to $400 because of a $50-a-month workers' compensation offset. Boxes 3 and 5 of your Form RRB-1099 will show $5,400 ($450 × 12 months) as the SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits paid to you by the RRB. The $5,400 is the amount before any deductions were made for the workers' compensation offset. Box 4 will show zero because you did not make any repayments during the year. Box 6 of your form will show $600 ($50 workers' compensation × 12 months). In figuring if any of your benefits are taxable, you must use $5,400 (box 5) as the amount of the SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits paid to you.

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP5d4cb8dc Boxes 7 and 8—Social Security Equivalent Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Paid for 2003 or 2002

Boxes 7 and 8—Social Security Equivalent Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Paid for 2003 or 2002

The figure shown in each applicable box is the amount of SSEB benefits paid to you in 2004 that was for 2003 or 2002. This amount is included in the amount shown in box 3.

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP703922ae Box 9—Social Security Equivalent Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Paid for Years Prior to 2002

Box 9—Social Security Equivalent Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Paid for Years Prior to 2002

The figure shown in this box is the amount of SSEB benefits paid to you in 2004 that was for 2001 and earlier years after 1983. This amount is included in the amount shown in box 3. Any tier 1 benefit paid for a period before 1986 is treated as SSEB.

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP1bc807d8 Box 10—Federal Income Tax Withheld

Box 10—Federal Income Tax Withheld

The figure shown in this box is the total amount of U.S. federal income tax withheld on your tier 1 SSEB payments. This total is based on the amount of SSEB tax withholding requested on IRS Form W-4V, Voluntary Withholding Request. Include this amount on your income tax return as tax withheld.

In some cases, a tax withholding amount may be shown in this box even though you did not request SSEB tax withholding. This may happen if you previously had taxes withheld from your pension payments (NSSEB, tier 2, and/or vested dual benefit), but the taxability of those payments has since changed. In these cases, the tax withholding amount is applied to the SSEB since that is your only taxable component.

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP667e7100 Box 11—Medicare Premium Total

This is for information purposes only. This is the total amount of Part B Medicare premiums deducted from your railroad retirement annuity payments shown on your Form RRB-1099 for 2004. Medicare premium refunds are not included in this total. The Medicare total is normally shown on Form RRB-1099. However, if Form RRB-1099 is not required for your 2004 taxes, then this total will be shown on Form RRB-1099-R. Medicare premiums deducted from your social security benefits, paid by a third party, or paid by direct billing will not be shown in this box.

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rrb–1042S  

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP3335d815 Form RRB-1042S   (Nonresident Aliens)

Form RRB-1042S (Nonresident Aliens)

This form is for nonresident aliens. It contains the following four additional items that do not appear on Form RRB-1099.

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Note.If your country of legal residence changed or your tax withholding rate changed during the year, you may receive more than one Form RRB-1042S. To determine your total amounts for the year, you should add the amounts shown on all Forms RRB-1042S you received for that year.

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP7020fa5f Box 10—Country

The country where you maintain your legal residence is shown in this box. If you maintained legal residence in more than one country during the year, you will receive a separate Form RRB-1042S for each country of legal residence during the year.

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP541a0a23 Box 11—Rate of Tax

The figure in this box is the rate at which tax was withheld from 85% of the SSEB portion of tier 1 payments you received. If tax was withheld at more than one rate during the year, you will receive a separate Form RRB-1042S for each rate change during the year. The tax rate for most nonresident aliens is 30%. The figure "0%" or "15%" may appear in this box if you claimed a tax treaty exemption by filing Form RRB-1001 with the RRB. For more information, see Nonresident aliens earlier under Are Any of Your Benefits Taxable.

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP6a6448c5 Box 12—Federal Tax Withheld

The figure in this box is the total amount of U.S. federal income tax withheld from the SSEB portion of your tier 1 payments while you were a legal resident of the country in box 10 in 2004. If you received more than one Form RRB-1042S for 2004, add the amounts in box 12 of all Forms RRB-1042S to determine your total amount of U.S. federal income tax withheld from SSEB payments for 2004. Tax is withheld for any month in which you were a nonresident alien (unless you claimed exemption under a tax treaty).

Taxmap/pubs/p915-005.htm#TXMP6d2057fd Box 13—Medicare Premium Total

This is for information purposes. This is the total amount of Part B Medicare premiums deducted from your railroad retirement annuity payments shown on your Form RRB-1042S for 2004. Medicare premium refunds are not included in this total. The Medicare total is normally shown on Form RRB-1042S. However, if Form RRB-1042S is not required for your 2004 taxes, then this total will be shown on Form RRB-1099-R. Medicare premiums deducted from your social security benefits, paid by a third party, or paid by direct billing will not be shown in this box.

You should contact your nearest RRB field office (if you reside in the United States) or U.S. consulate/embassy (if you reside outside of the United States) for assistance with your RRB tax statement inquiries. If you are in the United States or Canada, you may call the RRB toll free at 1-800-808-0772. You may also visit the RRB on the Internet at www.rrb.gov. If you have any questions about how to figure your taxable payments or what amounts to show on your income tax returns, contact the IRS.

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