Do You Get a 1099 for a Roth IRA? IRS Reporting Rules Explained 2026

Usually when money leaves the IRA — but the form is not automatically a tax bill. A reportable Roth IRA withdrawal generally produces Form 1099-R, even if it is tax-free. A regular personal contribution goes on Form 5498 instead. Conversions, certain employer Roth contributions and other transactions have separate reporting rules, so first check which account sent the form and what happened.

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Quick Facts

infoTax-free does not mean reporting-free. A qualified Roth withdrawal generally still goes on your return.
infoThe account matters. A Traditional-to-Roth IRA conversion produces a 1099-R from the Traditional IRA, not a withdrawal form from the receiving Roth IRA.
check_circleOrdinary Roth withdrawal codes are J, Q or T. Code 1 or 7 is not the ordinary Roth IRA withdrawal code.
warningA blank taxable-amount box is not an answer. Providers generally leave Roth IRA box 2a blank; your records determine the taxable amount.
infoForm 8606 depends on the transaction. Many nonqualified withdrawals need Part III even when no tax is due; code-Q qualified withdrawals generally do not.

Which Transactions Produce a Form?

These are common cases, not an exhaustive list:

A reportable withdrawal from your Roth IRA, including a beneficiary withdrawal. The owner has no lifetime RMDs; beneficiaries follow separate withdrawal rules.
A Traditional-to-Roth IRA conversion. The source Traditional IRA reports the distribution, and the receiving Roth IRA reports the conversion on Form 5498. Remaining after-tax basis can make part of the conversion nontaxable.
An indirect, 60-day rollover. The distribution is reported even when the rollover succeeds. Missing the usual deadline does not by itself make remaining regular Roth contributions taxable; eligibility, relief, ordering and qualification still matter.
A contribution recharacterization or corrective return of a contribution. These have special codes and reporting years. Roth conversions made in 2018 or later cannot be recharacterized.
Certain employer Roth contributions. Employer Roth SEP/SIMPLE contributions use Form 1099-R even though you did not take cash home. See the employer-reporting table.

An ordinary same-type trustee-to-trustee IRA transfer generally does not produce a 1099-R. That is different from a reportable conversion or workplace-plan rollover. Ordinary trades, dividends and interest kept inside your IRA are not personal brokerage income to put on Schedule D or Schedule B.

Read the Code Alongside the Account Type

The 2026 Forms 1099-R/5498 instructions label the distribution-code field box 7a; older forms use box 7. Do not apply a workplace-plan code to an ordinary Roth IRA withdrawal.

J — Roth IRA distribution when Q or T does not apply. It does not prove that the whole payment is taxable or subject to the additional early-distribution tax.
Q — qualified Roth IRA distribution. The provider knows the five-year requirement is met and that age 59½, death or disability applies. Q is not restricted to owners over 59½.
T — age, death or disability exception known, five-year status unknown. Your account history determines whether the withdrawal is qualified. A first-home purchase is not, by itself, the provider’s reason to use T.
2 or 7 — a Traditional-to-Roth IRA conversion. The source IRA uses 2 before age 59½, or 7 at age 59½ or later, including a trustee-to-trustee conversion. Code G is not the code for that IRA-to-IRA conversion.
G or H — distinguish workplace-plan transactions. G can report a direct rollover from a pre-tax employer plan to a Roth IRA; H reports a direct rollover from a designated Roth workplace account to a Roth IRA. G also has other prescribed uses, including optional Roth employer matching contributions.
8 or P with J — common corrective Roth IRA distribution combinations. The income year matters. Special transactions, including Roth SIMPLE distributions, need their own instructions; this list is not a substitute for the full code table.

Check box 2a carefully. For ordinary Roth IRA distributions it is generally blank, not automatically zero or the full payment. Corrective distributions have different instructions. If the account type or code appears wrong, ask the provider to review it rather than treating the code as your complete tax calculation.

Reconciling 1099-R With Form 8606

Under the published 2025 Form 8606 instructions, a nonqualified Roth IRA withdrawal generally needs Part III even when remaining regular contributions cover the withdrawal. Qualified age/death/disability withdrawals are excluded; a qualified first-home withdrawal can still require Part III. Conversions from a Traditional IRA use Part II, with Part I when applicable for after-tax basis. Check the instructions for the year you are filing.

Example — a withdrawal can have zero income tax and still have an additional tax. Assume an ordinary personal Roth IRA owner is 55 in 2026, has $30,000 of remaining regular-contribution basis and made one fully taxable $20,000 conversion in 2025. There were no earlier withdrawals, no other conversions and no applicable early-distribution exception. The account is worth $75,000, including $25,000 of earnings. A $40,000 withdrawal generally carries code J:

$30,000 of remaining regular contributions: no federal income tax or additional early-distribution tax.
$10,000 of the 2025 conversion: no second income tax, but it is inside that conversion’s five-tax-year period. Under these assumptions, the additional tax is $10,000 × 10% = $1,000.
$0 of earnings reached: $40,000 − $30,000 − $10,000 = $0.

Form 8606 Part III and Form 5329 address those separate calculations. Changing the conversion year, its taxable portion, earlier withdrawals or an applicable exception can change the result. See withdrawal ordering, Publication 590-B and the Form 5329 instructions.

If the Form Is Missing or Incorrect

The usual recipient deadline is the end of January after the distribution year, adjusted for weekends, holidays and applicable relief. Check your provider’s tax-document portal and contact it for a missing or corrected form. If the problem remains unresolved, follow IRS Topic 154: it explains when to contact the IRS, how Form 4852 may substitute for a missing 1099-R, and when a later corrected form requires an amended return. Do not ignore a reportable transaction just because a form is missing.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I only contributed to my Roth IRA, will I get a 1099-R?

Not solely for an ordinary personal Roth IRA contribution. That contribution is reported in box 10 of Form 5498, not box 1. Employer Roth SEP/SIMPLE contributions are a separate case and can generate Form 1099-R.

Why did I get a 1099-R for my Roth conversion?

A Traditional-to-Roth IRA conversion is a reportable distribution from the Traditional IRA. The source uses code 2 if you are under 59½, or code 7 at 59½ or later, even for a trustee-to-trustee conversion. Code G applies to specified plan rollovers and other transactions, not that IRA-to-IRA conversion. After-tax basis can make part of a conversion nontaxable.

Is a 1099-R from a Roth IRA always taxable?

No. Qualified withdrawals and withdrawals covered by remaining regular-contribution basis can be free of federal income tax. Nonqualified earnings can be taxable; recently converted taxable amounts can trigger a separate additional tax. Form 8606 Part III generally applies to nonqualified withdrawals, but not to every 1099-R.

What if I never received my 1099-R?

Check the provider’s tax-document portal and request the missing form. The usual end-of-January deadline can move for weekends, holidays or relief. IRS Topic 154 explains the next steps if the provider cannot resolve it, including possible use of Form 4852 and an amended return if a later form changes the amounts.