Introduction The Form RRB-1042S tax statement is issued by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
(RRB) and represents payments made to you in the tax year indicated on the
statement. You will need to determine if any of the railroad retirement payments
made to you are taxable. Explanation of items on Form RRB-1042S are on the back
of this explanation sheet.
The mailing address shown on Form RRB-1042S is the
address we currently have on our records. Please review the mailing address
shown. If the mailing address shown is incorrect or incomplete, please provide
the RRB with your correct mailing address.
Form RRB-1042S
Form RRB-1042S reports the Social
Security Equivalent Benefit (SSEB) portion of tier 1 and special guaranty
benefits paid and repaid to nonresident aliens of the United States, and the
related U.S. Federal income tax withheld. SSEB payments are similar to social
security benefits for U.S. Federal income tax purposes. Payments and repayments
resulting from railroad retirement annuity adjustments are shown on your tax
statements, and may be fully or partially subject to taxation. This is true
whether adjustments result in net amounts due or net overpayments which you are
asked to repay, and whether any overpayments are recovered or waived. A
repayment is a returned payment, a cash refund, or an amount withheld from your
annuity to recover an overpayment. Certain payments and repayments are not
taxable and are not reported on your tax statements. These certain payments and
repayments include tier 1, tier 2, vested dual benefits paid for a period before
December 1983; tier 2 and vested dual benefits repaid for a period before
December 1983; separation allowance lump sum amounts; residual lump sum amounts;
lump sum death payments; and Railroad Retirement Act tax refunds. For
information about SSEB benefits and Form RRB-1042S, get IRS Publication 915,
Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits.
NOTE: You should have received
Form SSA-1042S and Notice 703 from the Social Security Administration (SSA) if
you also received social security benefits for the tax year indicated on the
Form RRB-1042S. Contact SSA not the RRB if you need Form SSA-1042S and Notice
703.
Nonresident
Alien of the United States
Our records indicate that you are a
nonresident alien of the United States. A nonresident alien is an
individual who is neither a citizen nor resident of the United States, Guam, the
U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico or the Northern Mariana Islands. Taxes should
have been withheld from your railroad retirement benefit payments made in the
tax year indicated on your tax statement(s), unless you were exempt under a tax
treaty between the United States and your country of legal residence. You are
not required to file a U.S. Federal income tax return if: (1) your entire tax
liability was fulfilled by withholding of tax on benefits; (2) your only income
from sources within the United States was not connected to a trade or business;
and (3) the correct amount of tax for the correct period was withheld from your
annuity payments. However, you may wish to file an income tax return to receive
a tax refund if too much tax was withheld from these payments. If your country
of legal residence changed and/or your tax withholding rate changed during a
given tax year, you may receive more than one set of Forms RRB-1042S and/or
RRB-1099-R. If you were also a resident of the United States during a given tax
year, you may receive Forms RRB-1099 and/or RRB-1099-R, and be required to file
Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. If you are required to file an
income tax return, a negligence penalty or other sanction may be imposed on you
if the income is taxable and the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
determines that it has not been reported. For more information on filing
requirements for aliens, refer to IRS Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for
Aliens. Railroad retirement payments are not taxable for U.S. state income tax
purposes.
Corrected/Duplicate RRB 1042S
There are two boxes located at the top
left hand side of the Form RRB-1042S indicated as Corrected or Duplicate.
Neither box will be checked if this is an original Form RRB-1042S. One of these
boxes is checked when either a corrected or duplicate Form RRB-1042S is
prepared. Both boxes are checked if the Form RRB-1042S is a duplicate of a
previously corrected Form RRB-1042S. You may receive more than one original Form
RRB-1042S for the tax year indicated. Each original Form RRB-1042S is valid and
should be included when you file your income tax return for the tax year
indicated. A "duplicate" Form RRB-1042S is the same as a previously released
original or corrected Form RRB-1042S. The RRB may issue a "corrected" Form
RRB-1042S if there is an error in the "original" Form RRB-1042S. A "corrected"
Form RRB-1042S replaces the corresponding "original" Form RRB-1042S. Therefore,
you must use the latest corrected or duplicate Form RRB-1042S you received AND
any original Form RRB-1042S that the RRB has not corrected when you file and/or
amend your income tax return for that same tax year.
Form RRB-1099R Tax
Statement
You may also receive a Form RRB-1099-R
tax statement in addition to a Form RRB-1042S. Form RRB-1099-R reports
the taxable paid, repaid, and U.S. Federal income tax withheld from, the
Non-Social Security Equivalent Benefit (NSSEB) portion of tier 1, tier 2, vested
dual benefit (VDB), and supplemental annuity payments. These payments are
treated as private pensions for U.S. Federal tax purposes. For more information
about these payments and Form RRB-1099-R, refer to IRS Pub. 575, Pension and
Annuity Income. To determine your taxable amount, follow the Instructions for
Form 1040 and/or Form 1040A Booklet(s), and/or IRS Publication 939, General Rule
for Pensions and Annuities.
The totals reported on your Form RRB-1042S may not equal the total amount of
SSEB payments you actually received during the tax year indicated. For
beneficiaries receiving Medicare, the difference may be the total amount of
Medicare premiums paid during the tax year indicated. Amounts shown on tax
statements issued by the RRB are before any deduction for Medicare. Effective
for tax years 1997 and later, the RRB only shows the total Part B Medicare
premiums that were deducted from railroad retirement annuity payments for the
tax year indicated on Form RRB-1042S. The RRB does not show the Medicare
premiums deducted from social security benefits on any tax statement issued by
the RRB. In addition, Medicare premium refunds are not included in your
Medicare premium total.
If you have any questions about how to
figure your taxable payments and/or what amounts to show on your income tax
returns and/or how to amend income tax returns, contact your own tax preparer or
the IRS. However, contact the RRB if you have questions about your Form
RRB-1042S and railroad retirement benefit payments, or if you need to request a
duplicate Form RRB-1042S for any tax year. When contacting the RRB about your
Form RRB-1042S, always give the claim number and payee code shown in Box 1 of
your Form RRB-1042S. The recipient's identification number in Box 2 of the Form
RRB-1042S is either the United States social security number OR individual
taxpayer identification number (ITIN) OR employer identification number (EIN)
for the person or Estate listed as the recipient.
IF YOU RESIDE WITHIN THE UNITED STATES,
contact the RRB at 1-877-772-5772 for assistance with your inquiries.
IF YOU RESIDE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, contact the U.S. CONSULATE/EMBASSY. In addition, you may visit
our Website at www.rrb.gov.
You may want to photocopy and retain this Form RRB-1042S for income
verification and record keeping purposes.
Please be sure the RRB always has your current mailing address.
Explanation of
Items on Form RRB-1042S
Box 3 - Gross Social Security Equivalent
Benefit Portion of Tier 1 paid in the year shown above - This is the
total SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits paid to you during the tax year indicated
on the Form RRB-1042S. It includes any SSEB benefits paid to you during the
indicated tax year that were for prior years.
Box 4 - Social Security Equivalent
Benefit Portion of Tier 1 repaid to RRB in the year shown above - This is
the total SSEB benefits you repaid to the RRB during the tax year indicated on
the Form RRB-1042S. It includes any SSEB benefits you repaid during the
indicated tax year that were for prior years. You may have repaid a SSEB benefit
by returning a payment, by making a cash refund, or by having an amount withheld
from your annuity for overpayment recovery purposes.
Box 5 - Net Social Security Equivalent
Benefit Portion of Tier 1 paid in the year shown above - This total is
the amount in Box 3 minus the amount in Box 4. A figure in parenthesis is a
negative amount. A negative amount means that you repaid the RRB more than you
received or were credited with receiving during the tax year indicated on the
Form RRB-1042S. If you received more than one Form RRB-1042S or Form SSA-1042S
for the same tax year, a negative figure in Box 5 of Forms RRB-1042S or
SSA-1042S can be used to offset a positive figure in Box 5 of the other Forms
RRB-1042S or SSA-1042S for the same tax year. For information concerning SSEB
benefits, refer to IRS Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad
Retirement Benefits.
BOX 6 - Workers' Compensation Offset in
the year shown above - This amount is for informational purposes. This is
the amount of any workers' compensation deducted from your SSEB payments. This
amount is included in the amount in Box 3.
BOX 7 - Social Security Equivalent
Benefit Portion of Tier 1 paid for one year prior to the year shown above
- This total is the amount of SSEB that was due for one year prior to the tax
year indicated, but was not paid until the tax year indicated on the Form
RRB-1042S. This amount is included in the amount shown in Box 3.
BOX 9 - Social Security Equivalent Benefit
Portion of Tier 1 paid for three years prior to the year shown above -
This total is the amount of SSEB that was due for three or more years prior to
the tax year indicated, but was not paid until the tax year indicated on the
Form RRB-1042S. This amount is included in the amount shown in Box 3. Any tier 1
benefit paid for a period prior to 1986 is treated as SSEB.
BOX 10 - Country - This item
indicates the country of which you were a legal resident for U.S. Federal income
tax purposes for the payments shown on this Form RRB-1042S.
BOX 11 - Rate of Tax - This is the
rate at which U.S. Federal income tax was withheld from the SSEB payments shown
on this Form RRB-1042S.
BOX 12 - Federal Income Tax Withheld
- This is the amount of U.S. Federal income tax withheld from the SSEB payments
while you were a legal resident of the country shown in Box 10 in the tax year
indicated on this Form RRB-1042S.
BOX 13 - Medicare PREMIUM TOTAL -
This is the total amount of Part B Medicare premiums deducted from your railroad
retirement annuity payments during the tax year indicated on Form RRB-1042S.
This amount is for informational purposes and only applies to tax years 1997 and
later. If your Form RRB-1042S is for a tax year prior to tax year 1997, this box
is blank even though you may have had Medicare premiums deducted from your
railroad retirement annuity payments. Medicare premium refunds are not included
in the Medicare total. The Medicare total is normally shown on Form RRB-1042S.
However, if Form RRB-1042S is not required for the tax year indicated, then the
Medicare total will be shown on Form RRB-1099-R. If your Medicare premiums were
deducted from your social security benefits; paid by a third party; and/or you
paid the premiums by direct billing, your Medicare total will not be shown in
this box. |