us internal revenue service: p721--1997

8/14/2019 US Internal Revenue Service: p721--1997

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ContentsImportant Change .............................................. 1

Important Reminders ......................................... 1

Introduction ........................................................ 2

Part IGeneral Information ......................................... 2

Part IIRules for Retirees ............................................ 4

Part IIIRules for Disability Retirement and Credit for

the Elderly or the Disabled ....................... 13

Part IVRules for Survivors of Federal Employees ...... 14

Part VRules for Survivors of Federal Retirees .......... 18

How To Get More Information .......................... 20

Simplified Method Worksheet ........................... 21

Worksheet for Lump-Sum Payment ................. 22

Index .................................................................... 23

Important Change for 1998

New table of cost recovery factors for annuitieswith survivor benefits. If your annuity starting date isafter 1997 and your civil service annuity provides sur-vivor benefits for your spouse, you must use a new

table of cost recovery factors (the number of anticipatedmonthly annuity payments) to figure the tax-free partof your annuity payments under the Simplified Method.You determine the factor to use by combining your ageand your spouse's age on the annuity starting date.

The new table for annuities based on the lives ofmore than one annuitant is shown below:

Important Reminders

Civil service annuity payments. If your annuitystarting date is after November 18, 1996, you cannotuse the General Rule to figure your taxable annuity.Instead, you must use the Simplified Method. Also, therecovery factors (the number of anticipated monthlypayments) used to figure the tax-free portion of yourannuity under the Simplified Method have changed.See Simplified Method in Part II of this publication.

Department of the TreasuryInternal Revenue Service

Publication 721Cat. No. 46713C

Tax Guide toU.S. Civil

Service

Retirement

Benefits

For use in preparing

1997 Returns

Get forms and other information faster and easier by:COMPUTER

• World Wide Web ® www.irs.ustreas.gov• FTP ® ftp.irs.ustreas.gov• IRIS at FedWorld ® (703) 321-8020

FAX• From your FAX machine, dial ® (703) 368-9694See How To Get More Information in this publication.

Combined Age of AnnuitantsNumber ofPayments

Not more than 110 .............................................. 410More than 110, but not more than 120 ............... 360More than 120, but not more than 130 ............... 310More than 130, but not more than 140 ............... 260More than 140 ..................................................... 210



Repeal of $5,000 death benefit exclusion. The ben-eficiary of an employee who dies after August 20,1996, cannot claim the $5,000 death benefit exclusion.See Rules for Survivors of Federal Employees in PartIV.

Introduction

This publication explains how the federal income taxrules apply to civil service retirement benefits receivedby retired federal employees (including those disabled)or their survivors. These benefits are paid primarilyunder the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) orthe Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS).

Tax rules for annuity benefits. Part of the annuitybenefits you receive is a tax-free recovery of your con-tributions to the CSRS or FERS. The rest of your ben-efits is taxable. You should generally use the SimplifiedMethod to figure the taxable and tax-free parts. How-ever, if your annuity starting date is before November

19, 1996, you can choose to use the more complexGeneral Rule. See Part II.

Thrift Savings Plan. The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)provides federal employees with the same savings andtax benefits that many private employers offer theiremployees. This plan is similar to private sector 401(k)plans. You can defer tax on part of your pay by havingit contributed to your account in the plan. The contri-butions and earnings on them are not taxed until theyare distributed to you. See Thrift Savings Plan in PartII.

Useful ItemsYou may want to see:

Publication

524 Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled

575 Pension and Annuity Income

590 Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)(Including SEP-IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs)

939 General Rule for Pensions and Annuities

Form (and Instructions)

CSA 1099R Statement of Annuity Paid

CSF 1099R Statement of Survivor Annuity Paid

1099–R Distributions From Pensions, Annuities,Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs,Insurance Contracts, etc.

See How To Get More Information near the end ofthis publication for information about getting thesepublications and forms.

Part IGeneral InformationThis section contains information that can apply to mostrecipients of civil service retirement benefits.

Refund of Contributions

If you leave federal government service or transfer toa job not under the retirement system and you are noteligible for an immediate annuity, you can choose toreceive a refund of the money to your credit in the re-tirement fund (your total contributions, both regular andvoluntary, plus any interest payable). The amount of therefund that is more than your total contributions to thefund (cost) is taxable. It is taxable in the year the refundis distributed or made available to you. If you only re-ceive your contributions, no part of the refund is taxable.

Generally, some or all of the taxable part of the dis-tribution from active participation in the retirement planbefore 1974 may qualify for capital gain treatment. Thetaxable part from participation after 1973 is taxed as

ordinary income, but may be eligible for the 5– or10–year tax option.The taxable part of the distribution may also be

subject to an additional 10% tax on early distributionsif you separate from service before the calendar yearin which you reach age 55. For more information, seeLump-Sum Distributions and Tax on Early Distributions in Publication 575.

CAUTION

!This discussion does not apply to the lump-sum payment available to certain retirees who choose the alternative annuity option. See Al-

ternative Annuity Option in Part II.

Rollovers. If you leave federal service and receiveyour contributions plus interest, you may be able to rollover all or part of the interest tax free into anotherqualified plan or an individual retirement arrangement(IRA). Tax will be withheld at a 20% rate unless you rollthe interest over by having the Office of PersonnelManagement (OPM) transfer it directly to an IRA orother plan.

Under the CSRS, but not the FERS, interest is notpaid on civil service contributions for service after 1956unless the refund of contributions covers a period ofgovernment service of more than 1 year but less than5. Many employees who withdraw their contributionsunder the CSRS do not get interest; consequently, they

have nothing to roll over.If you are the surviving spouse of an employee or

retiree and you receive a refund of the contributionsplus interest, you may roll over all or part of the interestinto an IRA.

See Rollover Rules in Part II for more information.

Tax Withholdingand Estimated TaxThe annuity you receive is subject to federal income taxwithholding based on tables prepared by the InternalRevenue Service, unless you choose not to have tax



withheld. If you choose not to have tax withheld, or ifyou do not have enough income tax withheld, you mayhave to make estimated tax payments.

For 1997, the total of your withheld tax and estimatedtax payments generally must cover at least 90% of yourtotal tax for the year or 100% of the tax shown on yourreturn for 1996, whichever is less. If it does not, youmay owe a penalty. See chapter 4 in Publication 505,Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, for more informa-tion.

These withholding rules also apply to a disabilityannuity, whether received before or after minimum re-tirement age. See Part III for rules on disability retire-ment.

Choosing no withholding. You generally can choosenot to have tax withheld from your annuity. The Officeof Personnel Management (OPM) will tell you how tomake the choice. This choice for no withholding re-mains in effect until you change it.

Withholding on payments outside United States.The choice for no withholding generally cannot be madefor annuity payments to be delivered outside the United

States and its possessions.To choose exemption from withholding if you are a

U.S. citizen or resident, you must provide OPM withyour home address in the United States or its pos-sessions. Otherwise, OPM has to withhold tax. For ex-ample, OPM must withhold if you provide a U.S. ad-dress for a nominee, trustee, or agent (such as a bank)to whom the benefits are to be delivered, but you donot provide your own U.S. home address.

You also may choose exemption from this withhold-ing if you certify to OPM that you are not a U.S. citizen,a U.S. resident alien, or someone who left the UnitedStates to avoid tax. But if you so certify, you may besubject to the 30% flat rate withholding that applies to

nonresident aliens. For details, see Publication 519,U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.

Withholding certificate. If you give OPM a FormW–4P–A choosing withholding, your annuity will betreated like wages for income tax withholding purposes.If you do not make a choice, OPM must withhold as ifyou were married with three withholding allowances.

To change the amount of tax withholding or tostop withholding, call OPM's Retirement Infor-mation Office at 1–888–767–6738 or call

Annuitant Express at 1–800–409–6528. No special

form is needed. You will need your retirement claimnumber (CSA or CSF) and your social security numberwhen you call.

Withholding from certain lump-sum payments. Ifyou leave the federal government before becoming eli-gible to retire and you apply for a refund of your con-tributions, or you die without leaving a survivor eligiblefor an annuity, you or your beneficiary will receive adistribution of your contributions to the retirement planplus any interest payable. Tax will be withheld at a 20%rate on the interest distributed. However, tax will not

be withheld if you roll it over to an IRA or a qualifiedplan by having OPM transfer it directly to the IRA orother plan. See Rollover Rules in Part II. If you receiveonly your contributions, no tax will be withheld.

If you retire and elect to receive a reduced annuityand a lump-sum payment under the alternative annuityoption, tax will be withheld at a 20% rate on the taxablepart of the lump-sum payment received. (See Alterna- tive Annuity Option in Part II for information about thisoption.) However, no tax will be withheld from the lump

sum if you roll the taxable part over to an IRA or aqualified plan by having OPM transfer the taxable partdirectly to the IRA or other plan.

Estimated tax. Generally, for 1998, you should makeestimated tax payments if you anticipate that yourwithholding tax plus your credits will be less than thesmaller of:

1) 90% of the tax to be shown on your 1998 incometax return, or

2) 100% of the tax shown on your 1997 income tax

return. (The return must cover all 12 months.)

There will be no penalty for the underpayment of1998 estimated tax if:

1) The total tax due for 1998, minus your withholdingand credits, is less than $1,000, or

2) You had no tax liability for 1997.

Form 1040–ES contains a worksheet that you canuse to see if you should make estimated tax payments.For more information, see chapter 2 in Publication 505.

Form CSA 1099R. Form CSA 1099R, Statement of Annuity Paid, is mailed to you by OPM each year. Itwill show any tax you had withheld. File copy B of FormCSA 1099R with your return if any federal income taxwas withheld.

Withholding from Thrift Savings Plan payments. Adistribution that you receive from the Thrift Savings Plan(TSP) is subject to federal income tax withholding. Theamount withheld is 20% if the distribution is an eligiblerollover distribution, 10% if it is a nonperiodic distribu-tion, or an amount based on IRS tables if it is a periodicdistribution. However, you can usually choose not to

have tax withheld from TSP payments other than eligi-ble rollover distributions. By January 31 after the endof the year in which you receive a distribution, the TSPwill issue Form 1099–R, Distributions From Pensions,Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs,Insurance Contracts, etc., showing the total distribu-tions you received in the prior year and the amount oftax withheld.

For a detailed discussion of withholding on distribu-tions from the TSP, see Important Tax Information About Payments From Your Thrift Savings Plan Ac- count (Rev. March 1997), available from your agencypersonnel office or from the TSP.



Filing RequirementsIf your gross income, including the taxable part of yourannuity, is less than a certain amount, you generallydo not have to file a federal income tax return. Thegross income filing requirements are in the instructionsto the Form 1040, 1040EZ, or 1040A that you get eachyear. You should check these requirements closelybecause they change occasionally.

Children. If you are the surviving spouse of a federalemployee or retiree and your monthly annuity checkincludes a survivor annuity for one or more children,each child's annuity counts as his or her own income(not yours) for federal income tax purposes.

If your child can be claimed as a dependent, treathis or her annuity as unearned income to apply the filingrequirements. For 1997, a return generally must be filedfor the child if his or her gross income (including thetaxable part of the child's annuity) was more than $650.(If the child was blind, see your tax return instructionsfor the filing requirement.) If your child cannot beclaimed as a dependent, a return generally must befiled if his or her gross income was more than $6,800.

Form CSF 1099R. By January 31 after the end ofeach tax year, you should receive Form CSF 1099R,Statement of Survivor Annuity Paid, which will show thetotal amount of the annuity you received in the pastyear. It should also separately show the survivor an-nuity for a child or children. Only the part that is eachindividual's survivor annuity should be shown on thatindividual's Form 1040 or 1040A.

If your Form CSF 1099R does not separately showthe amount paid to you for a child or children, you mayrequest a Summary of Benefits, showing the amountspaid to you for your child(ren), from the Office of Per-sonnel Management by calling Annuitant Express at1–800–409–6528. Attach a statement to your return,along with a copy of Form CSF 1099R, explaining whythe amount shown on the tax return differs from theamount shown on Form CSF 1099R.

Taxable part of annuity. To find the taxable partof each annuity, see the discussion in Part IV, Rules for Survivors of Federal Employees, or Part V, Rules for Survivors of Federal Retirees, whichever applies.

Part IIRules for Retirees

This section is for retirees who retired on nondisabilityretirement. If you retired on disability, see Part III, Rules for Disability Retirement and Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled, later.

Annuity Statement. The statement you received whenyour CSRS or FERS annuity was approved shows yourtotal contributions to the retirement plan (your cost)and the gross monthly rate of your annuity benefit.The gross monthly rate is the amount you were to getafter your annuity was adjusted for electing the survi-vor's annuity and for electing the lump-sum paymentunder the alternative annuity option (if either applied)

but before income tax withholding, insurance premiums,etc., were deducted.

Your cost. If you are a retired employee, your monthlyannuity check contains an amount on which you havepreviously paid income tax. This amount representspart of your contributions to the retirement plan. Eventhough you did not receive the money that was con-tributed to the fund, it was includible in your gross in-come for federal income tax purposes in the year itwas taken out of your pay.

The cost of your annuity is the total of your contri-butions to the retirement plan. It includes any deemeddeposits and any deemed redeposits. See Deemed deposits and redeposits under Alternative Annuity Op- tion, later.

When your annuity starts, the Office of PersonnelManagement (OPM) will tell you what this amount is.

Repayment of contributions plus interest. If yourepaid to the retirement plan contributions that you hadwithdrawn earlier, or if you paid into the plan to receivefull credit for service not subject to retirement de-ductions, the entire repayment, including any interest,is a part of your cost. You cannot claim an interest de-duction for any interest payments. You cannot treatthese payments as voluntary contributions; they areconsidered regular employee contributions.

Recovering your cost tax free. How you figure thetax-free recovery of the cost of your CSRS or FERSannuity depends on your annuity starting date.

• If your annuity starting date is before July 2, 1986,either the Three-Year Rule (see Three-Year Rule,later under General Rule) or the General Rule wouldapply to your annuity.

• If your annuity starting date is after July 1, 1986,and before November 19, 1996, you must use theGeneral Rule or the Simplified Method.

• If your annuity starting date is after November 18,1996, you must use the Simplified Method.

Under the General Rule or the Simplified Method,each of your monthly annuity payments is made up oftwo parts: the tax-free part that is a return of your cost,and the taxable balance. The tax-free part is a fixeddollar amount. It remains the same, even if your annuityis increased. This rule applies as long as you receiveyour annuity. However, see Exclusion limit, later.

General Rule. Under the General Rule, you figure

the tax-free part of each full monthly payment by ap-plying an exclusion percentage to the initial grossmonthly rate of your annuity. The result is the tax-freepart of each gross monthly annuity payment. Figuringthis percentage is complex and requires the use ofactuarial tables. These tables, as well as other infor-mation you need to figure the exclusion under theGeneral Rule, are in Publication 939, General Rule for Pensions and Annuities.

Simplified Method. Under the Simplified Method,you figure the tax-free part of each full monthly paymentby dividing your cost by a number of months based onyour age.



If your annuity starting date is after November 18,1996, the number you divide by is larger than thenumber used by those whose annuity starting date isearlier.

Changing the method. If your annuity starting dateis after July 1, 1986, but before November 19, 1996,you can change the way you figure the tax-free recov-ery of your cost (from the General Rule to the SimplifiedMethod, or the other way around) by filing amendedreturns for all your tax years beginning with the year in

which you received your first annuity payment. Youmust use the same method for all years. Generally, youcan make the change only within 3 years after the duedate of your return for the year in which you receivedyour first annuity payment (or, if later, within 2 yearsafter the tax for that year was paid).

Annuity starting date. Your annuity starting date isimportant in applying any of the rules to figure the taxon your annuity. The annuity starting date is called thecommencing date on the annuity statement. Youshould use this date to determine which rule to use, andto make the computation under that rule.

If you retire from federal government service on aregular annuity, your annuity starting date generally isthe first day of the month after the month in which youretire. However, if you work the first 3 days (or less) ofa month and then retire under the CSRS, your annuitystarting date generally is the day after retirement. If youare involuntarily separated from service for reasonsother than misconduct or delinquency, your annuitystarting date is the day after separation from service.

If something delays payment of your annuity, suchas a late application for retirement, it does not affect thedate your annuity begins to accrue or your annuitystarting date.

Disability retirement. If you retired on disability, seePart III, Rules for Disability Retirement and Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled, later in this publication, todetermine the date you will begin to report your disa-bility payments as an annuity.

Exclusion limit. If your annuity starting date is after1986, the total amount of annuity income that you (orthe survivor annuitant) can exclude over the years asa return of your cost may not exceed your total cost.

Example. Your annuity starting date is after 1986

and you exclude $100 a month under the SimplifiedMethod. If your cost is $12,000, the exclusion ends after10 years (120 months). Thereafter, your entire annuityis taxable.

Annuity starting date before 1987. If your annuitystarting date was before 1987, you continue to takeyour monthly exclusion figured under the General Ruleor Simplified Method for as long as you receive yourannuity. If you chose a joint and survivor annuity, yoursurvivor continues to take the survivor's exclusion fig-ured as of the annuity starting date. The total exclusionmay be more than your cost.

Deduction of unrecovered cost. If your annuitystarting date is after July 1, 1986, and the cost of yourannuity has not been fully recovered at your (or thesurvivor annuitant's) death, a deduction is allowed forthe unrecovered cost. The deduction is claimed on your(or your survivor's) final tax return as a miscellaneousitemized deduction (not subject to the2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit). If your annuitystarting date is before July 2, 1986, no tax benefit isallowed for any unrecovered cost at death.

Choosing a survivor annuity after retirement. If youretired without a survivor annuity and began reportingyour annuity under the Simplified Method, do notchange your tax-free monthly amount even if you laterchoose a survivor annuity.

If you retired without a survivor annuity and decidedto report your annuity under the General Rule, you mustfigure a new exclusion percentage if you later choosea survivor annuity. To figure it, reduce your cost by theamount you previously recovered tax free. Figure theexpected return as of the date the reduced annuity be-gins. For details on the General Rule, see Publication939.

Canceling a survivor annuity after retirement. If younotify the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) thatyour marriage has ended (by death, divorce, orannulment), your annuity can be increased to removethe reduction for a survivor benefit. The increased an-nuity does not change the cost recovery you figured atthe annuity starting date. The tax-free part of each an-nuity payment remains the same.

Simplified MethodIf your annuity starting date is after November 18, 1996,you must use the Simplified Method to figure the tax-free part of your CSRS or FERS annuity. You canchoose to use either the Simplified Method or theGeneral Rule if your annuity starting date is after July1, 1986, but before November 19, 1996. You will prob-ably find the Simplified Method both simpler and morebeneficial than the General Rule.

Table 1. Use Table 1, Simplified Method Worksheet,(near the end of this publication) to figure your taxableannuity. Be sure to keep the completed worksheet; itwill help you figure your taxable amounts for later years.

Line 2. Your cost in the plan includes any deemeddeposits or redeposits (explained later under Alternative

Annuity Option. ) If your annuity starting date was afterNovember 18, 1996, and you chose the alternative an-nuity option, reduce your cost by the lump-sum pay-ment you received.

Line 3. In completing line 3, use your age at your lastbirthday before your annuity starting date. If you re-ceived your first annuity payment in 1997 but your an-nuity starting date was before November 19, 1996, donot enter the amount shown for your age on the work-sheet. Instead, enter:

• 300, if you were 55 or under,

• 260, if you were 56 - 60,



• 240, if you were 61 - 65,

• 170, if you were 66 - 70,

• 120, if you were 71 or older.

Line 6. If you retired before 1997, the amount pre-viously recovered tax free that you must enter on line6 is the total amount from line 10 of last year's work-sheet.

Example. Bill Kirkland, age 65, began receiving re-

tirement benefits in January 1997 under a joint andsurvivor annuity to be paid for the joint lives of Bill andhis wife, Kathy. He had contributed $24,700 to the planand had received no distributions before the annuitystarting date. Bill is to receive a retirement benefit of$1,000 a month, and Kathy is to receive a monthlysurvivor benefit of $500 upon Bill's death.

Bill must use the Simplified Method computa-tion. He fills in the worksheet as follows:

Bill's tax-free monthly amount is $95. (See line 4 ofthe worksheet.) If he lives to collect more than 260monthly payments, he will have to include in his grossincome the full amount of any annuity payments re-ceived after 260 payments have been made.

If Bill does not live to collect 260 monthly paymentsand his wife begins to receive monthly payments, shewill also exclude $95 from each monthly payment until260 payments (Bill's and hers) have been collected. Ifshe dies before 260 payments have been made, amiscellaneous itemized deduction (not subject to the2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit) will be allowed forthe unrecovered cost on her final income tax return.

General RuleIf your annuity starting date is before November 19,1996, you could have chosen to use the General Ruleto figure the tax-free part of your CSRS or FERS an-nuity. If your annuity starting date is before July 2, 1986,you could have made that choice only if you could notuse the Three-Year Rule (explained later).

Compared with simplified method. If you are ableto use the Simplified Method (discussed above), it willusually be easier to use than the General Rule. Youusually will pay less tax if you use it. The General Ruleis not explained in this publication. If you want to com-pare results using the two rules, get Publication 939.

Three-Year Rule. If your annuity starting date wasbefore July 2, 1986, you probably had to report yourannuity using the Three-Year Rule. Under this rule, youexcluded all the annuity payments from income untilyou fully recovered your cost. After the cost was re-covered, all payments became fully taxable. You cannotuse another rule to again exclude amounts from in-come.

The Three-Year Rule was repealed for retirees whohave an annuity starting date after July 1, 1986.

Alternative Annuity OptionIf you are a nondisability retiree under either the CivilService Retirement System (CSRS) or the FederalEmployees' Retirement System (FERS), you may beable to choose the alternative annuity option. This op-tion is generally available only to those with certainlife-threatening illnesses or other critical medical con-ditions. If you choose this option, you will receive alump-sum payment equal to your total regular contri-butions to the retirement plan plus any interest thatapplies. Your monthly annuity is then reduced by about5 to 15 percent to adjust for this payment.

If you choose the alternative annuity option, theamount of the lump-sum payment is usually fully taxa-

ble. However, it may have a non-taxable part in somecases. The nontaxable part, if any, is that amount bywhich the payment exceeds the income on the contract.The income on the contract is equal to the presentvalue of the annuity contract minus the contributionsyou made to the retirement system. To determine thepresent value of the contract, call the IRS ActuarialBranch 3 at 202–622–7789 (not a toll-free call).

Table 1. Simplified Method Worksheet1. Enter the total annuity received this year. Also

add this amount to the total for Form 1040, line16a, or Form 1040A, line 11a ............................. $12,000

2. Enter your cost in the plan at the annuity startingdate, plus any death benefit exclusion ............... 24,700

NOTE: If you received annuity payments in prioryears, skip line 3 and enter the amount from line4 of last year's worksheet on line 4.

3. Age at annuity starting date: Enter:55 and under 36056–60 31061–65 26066–70 21071 and over 160 260

4. Divide line 2 by line 3 ......................................... 955. Multiply line 4 by the number of months for which

this year's payments were made ........................ 1,140

NOTE: If your annuity starting date was before1987, enter the amount from line 5 on line 8 be-low. Skip lines 6, 7, 10, and 11.

6. Enter any amounts previously recovered tax freein years after 1986 .............................................. 0

7. Subtract line 6 from line 2 .................................. 24,7008. Enter the smaller of line 5 or line 7 .................... 1,1409. Taxable annuity for year. Subtract line 8 from

line 1. Enter the result, but not less than zero.Also add this amount to the total for Form 1040,line 16b, or Form 1040A, line 11b ...................... $10,860

NOTE: If your Form CSA 1099R shows a largeramount, use the amount on line 9 instead.

10. Add lines 6 and 8 ................................................ 1,14011. Balance of cost to be recovered. Subtract line10 from line 2 ...................................................... $23,560



You can figure the nontaxable part of a lump-sum payment using the following worksheet.

Annuity starting date before November 19, 1996. Ifyour annuity starting date was before November 19,1996, and you chose the alternative annuity option,different rules apply. Under those rules, 85% to 95%of the payment amount equal to your contributions tothe retirement system is taxable. Figure the taxable partby using Table 2, Worksheet for Lump-Sum Payment,near the end of this publication. Your annuity paymentsare partly taxable under either the Simplified Methodor the General Rule (as explained earlier).

Example. Fran Brown retired from the federal gov-ernment on November 9, 1996, at age 55. She wasentitled to a regular annuity (without survivor benefit)of $1,000 a month if she did not choose the alternativeannuity option. Her annuity cost (the total of her con-tributions to the plan) was $21,780. Accrued intereston these contributions totaled $220.

Upon her retirement, Fran elected the alternativeannuity option, reducing her monthly annuity to $915.In 1997, she received the lump-sum payment of$22,000, which equaled her contributions plus the in-terest that applied.

She figures the taxable part of her lump-sumpayment as follows:

In figuring the taxable part of her annuity payments,Fran must use the Simplified Method. Under this rule,she divides her total cost ($21,780) by the number (360)for her age at her annuity starting date from line 3 ofTable 1. The result, $60.50, is her monthly tax-freeamount.

The total that Fran can exclude over the years is$21,780, which is made up of $1,851, the tax-free partof her lump-sum credit, and $19,929, the tax-free partof her annuity payments.

Rollovers. You can roll over the taxable part of thelump-sum payment to an IRA or a qualified retirementplan. OPM must withhold income tax of 20% on thetaxable part of the payment unless you have OPMtransfer that part directly to an IRA or a qualified re-tirement plan. See Rollover Rules later in this part for

more information.If your contributions include a deemed deposit or

redeposit, discussed later, OPM will make a directrollover only up to the net lump-sum payment amount.If the taxable amount (line 8 of Table 2, Worksheet for Lump-Sum Payment ) is more than your net lump-sumpayment, you can roll over the difference using yourown funds within 60 days. If you do not roll over thisdifference, you must include it as taxable income onyour income tax return.

5– or 10–year tax option or capital gain treatment.Your lump-sum payment does not qualify for the 5– or 10–year tax option or capital gain treatment. Do notreport any lump-sum payment or any interest on Form

4972, Tax on Lump-Sum Distributions. This form isused to elect these optional methods. For more infor-mation, get Publication 575.

Where to report. As stated on the worksheet, addany actual or deemed payment of your lump-sum creditto the total for line 16a, Form 1040, or line 11a, Form1040A. Add the taxable portion to the total for line 16b,Form 1040, or line 11b, Form 1040A, unless you rollover the taxable portion to an IRA or a qualified retire-ment plan. Include any interest paid with the secondinstallment on line 8a.

Additional tax. If you retired before the calendaryear in which you reach age 55, you must pay an ad-ditional tax equal to 10% of the taxable amount of the

lump-sum payment that you do not roll over to an IRAor a qualified retirement plan. Report the additional taxon line 50, Form 1040. You may also have to completeForm 5329, Additional Taxes Attributable to Qualified Retirement Plans (Including IRAs), Annuities, Modified Endowment Contracts, and MSAs and attach it to yourForm 1040. If you do not have to attach Form 5329,write “No” on the dotted line next to line 50 of your Form1040.

The 10% additional tax does not apply to the taxableamount of the lump-sum payment that is equal to yourdeductible medical expenses for the year (after re-duction by 71 / 2% of your adjusted gross income), evenif you do not itemize deductions.

Deemed deposits and redeposits. Your lump-sumcredit is the sum of your contributions to the retirementsystem, interest on those contributions, and anydeemed deposits and deemed redeposits. Deemeddeposits (including interest) are for federal employmentduring which no retirement contributions were taken outof your pay. Deemed redeposits (including interest) arefor any refunds of retirement contributions that you re-ceived but have not repaid. You will get credit for thisprior service without actually making these deposits orredeposits. Your reduced (alternative) annuity will be

1) Enter the total lump-sum payment ...................... $2) Enter the present value of the contract ............... $3) Enter the investment in the retirement plan ........ $4) Income on the contract. Subtract line 3 from

line 2 ................................................................... $5) Nontaxable part of the lump-sum payment.

Subtract line 4 from line 1. (If line 4 is more than

line 1, enter -0-.) .................................................. $

Table 2. Worksheet for Lump-Sum Payment1) Largest original monthly annuity payment

available (after the reduction for a survivorbenefit, if applicable) ........................................ $ 1,000

2) Monthly annuity payment after election oflump-sum payment .......................................... 915

3) Annuity reduction (subtract line 2 from line 1) . 854) Lump-sum credit (contributions plus interest

plus deemed deposits or redeposits). Also in-clude the result in the total for line 16a, Form1040, or line 11a, Form 1040A ....................... 22,000

5) The amount on line 4 minus interest ............... 21,7806) Divide line 3 by line 1 (round to 3 decimal

places) ............................................................. .0857) Tax-free portion of lump-sum payment (multi-ply line 5 by line 6) .......................................... $ 1,851

8) Taxable portion of lump-sum credit (subtractline 7 from line 4). Also include the result in thetotal for line 16b, Form 1040, or line 11b, Form1040A ............................................................... $ 20,149



figured as though, before retirement, you had madethese deposits and redeposits to OPM. The lump-sumpayment actually made to you will not include theseamounts.

Lump-sum payment in installments. If you choosethe alternative annuity option, you usually will receivethe lump-sum payment in two equal installments. Youwill receive the first installment after you make thechoice upon retirement. The second installment will be

paid to you, with interest, in the next calendar year.(Exceptions to the installment rule are provided forcases of critical medical need.)

Even though the lump-sum payment is made in in-stallments, the overall tax treatment (explained at thebeginning of this discussion) is the same as if the wholepayment were paid at once.

If the payment has a nontaxable part, you musttreat the taxable part (the income on the con-tract) as received first. (See the earlier dis-

cussion for computation of the taxable and nontaxableparts.) You can figure the nontaxable part of each in-stallment using the following worksheet.

Annuity starting date before November 19, 1996.In this case, the tax-free percentage of each installmentis the same as would apply to the lump-sum paymentas a whole. The tax-free amount of the first installmentis 50% of the tax-free portion on line 7 of your Work- sheet for Lump-Sum Payment. Likewise, the tax-freeamount of the second installment is 50% of the amounton line 7. The balance of each installment payment istaxable, including the interest on the second install-ment.

If you have deemed deposits or deemed redeposits(discussed earlier), your lump-sum payment is reduced.This will affect the tax-free amount of each installment,as shown in the following example.

Example. Your unadjusted lump-sum credit was$20,000. Your payment, however, was reduced by a$2,000 deemed redeposit of contributions that had beenpreviously refunded to you. You were therefore entitled

to an $18,000 lump-sum payment. Half of this, or$9,000, was paid to you as the first installment. Theremaining $9,000 was paid in the second installment.

You are considered to have received the $2,000 re-deposit with the first installment, making a total of$11,000 ($9,000 plus $2,000). This is 55% of the total$20,000 lump-sum credit (instead of 50%). Apply this55% to the tax-free amount of the total lump-sum credit(from line 7 of your Worksheet for Lump-Sum Payment ). The result is the tax-free part of the first in-stallment. The remaining 45% of the tax-free amountof the total lump-sum credit is the tax-free part of thesecond installment.

Federal Gift TaxIf, through the exercise or nonexercise of an electionor option, you provide an annuity for your beneficiaryat or after your death, you have made a gift. The giftmay be taxable for gift tax purposes. The value of thegift is equal to the value of the annuity.

Joint and survivor annuity. If the gift is an interest ina joint and survivor annuity where only you and your

spouse can receive payments before the death of thelast spouse to die, the gift will generally qualify for theunlimited marital deduction. This will eliminate any gifttax liability with regard to that gift.

If you provide survivor annuity benefits for someoneother than your current spouse, such as your formerspouse, the unlimited marital deduction will not apply.This may result in a taxable gift.

More information. For information about the gift tax,see Publication 950, Introduction to Estate and Gift Taxes.

Retirement During the Past YearIf you have recently retired, the following discussionscovering annual leave, voluntary contributions, andcommunity property may apply to you.

Annual leave. Treat a payment for accrued annualleave received on retirement as a salary payment. It istaxable as wages in the tax year you receive it.

Voluntary contributions. Voluntary contributions tothe retirement fund are those made in addition to theregular contributions that were deducted from yoursalary. They also include the regular contributions

withheld from your salary after you have the years ofservice necessary for the maximum annuity allowed bylaw. Voluntary contributions are not the same as em-ployee contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan. SeeThrift Savings Plan , later.

Additional annuity benefit. If you choose an addi-tional annuity benefit from your voluntary contributions,it is treated separately from the annuity benefit thatcomes from the regular contributions deducted fromyour salary. This separate treatment applies for figuringthe amounts to be excluded from, and included in, grossincome. It does not matter that you receive only onemonthly check covering both benefits. Each year youwill receive Form CSA 1099R, Statement of Annuity

Paid, that will show how much of your total annuity re-ceived in the past year was from each type of benefit.

Figure the taxable and tax-free parts of your addi-tional monthly benefits from voluntary contributions us-ing the rules that apply to regular CSRS and FERSannuities, as explained earlier in Part II.

Refund of voluntary contributions. If you choosea refund of your voluntary contributions plus accruedinterest, the interest is taxable to you in the tax year itis distributed unless you roll it over to an IRA or aqualified retirement plan. See Rollover Rules, later. Theinterest does not qualify for the 5– or 10–year tax op-tion.

1) Enter the nontaxable part of the lump-sum pay-ment ..................................................................... $

2) Enter the first installment ..................................... $3) Enter the income on the contract ........................ $4) Nontaxable part of the first installment. Sub-

tract line 3 from line 2. (If line 3 is more than line2, enter -0-.) ......................................................... $

5) Nontaxable part of the second installment.Subtract line 4 from line 1. .................................. $



Example 2. You are a nonresident alien who retiredfrom your employment with the United States. For yourwork performed both within the United States and

abroad you began to receive a monthly annuity of $240.Your total basic pay for your services for the UnitedStates was $120,000; $80,000 was for work done in theUnited States, and $40,000 was for your work done ina foreign country. You were a nonresident alien duringall of your employment.

Under the rules that would otherwise apply to yourannuity, you would have had to include $165 of eachmonthly payment in your gross income. Applying thelimit based on your present rate of annuity the taxablepart of each monthly payment is figured as follows:

Thrift Savings PlanAll of the money in your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) ac-count is taxed as ordinary income when you receive it.This is because neither the contributions to your TSP

account nor its earnings have been previously includedin your taxable income. The way that you withdraw youraccount balance determines when you must pay thetax.

Direct rollover by the TSP. If you ask the TSP totransfer any part of the money in your account to anindividual retirement arrangement (IRA) or other qual-ified retirement plan, the tax on that part is deferred untilyou receive payments from the IRA or other plan. SeeRollover Rules, later.

TSP annuity. If you ask the TSP to buy an annuity with

the money in your account, the annuity payments aretaxed when you receive them. However, the paymentsare not subject to the tax on early distributions, even ifyou are under age 55 when they begin.

Cash withdrawals. If you withdraw any of the moneyin your TSP account, it is taxed as ordinary incomewhen you receive it unless you roll it over into an IRAor other qualified plan. (See Rollover Rules, later.) Ifyou receive your entire TSP account balance in a singletax year, you may be able to use the 5– or 10–year taxoption to figure your tax. See Lump-Sum Distributions in Publication 575 for details.

3) Total basic pay minus part that was nontaxableas being from sources outside the UnitedStates ............................................................... $ 0

If you receive a single payment or payments over aperiod of less than 10 years, the TSP must withhold20% for federal income tax. If you receive paymentsover a period of 10 or more years or a period basedon your life expectancy, they are subject to withholdingunder the same rules as your CSRS or FERS annuity.See Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax in Part I.

Tax on early distributions. If you separate fromgovernment service before the calendar year in whichyour reach age 55, any money paid to you from your

TSP account before you reach age 591 / 2 is generallysubject to an additional 10% tax on early distributions.Report the tax on line 50 of Form 1040. You may alsohave to file Form 5329. For details, see the Form 1040instructions for line 50.

This additional tax does not apply in the followingsituations:

1) You receive a series of payments based on your lifeexpectancy, or

2) You retire on disability.

Also, this tax does not apply to the amount of pay-

ments you receive equal to your medical expenses forthe year, minus 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

Outstanding loan. If the TSP declares a distributionfrom your account because money you borrowed hasnot been repaid when you separate from governmentservice, your account is reduced and the amount of thedistribution (your unpaid loan balance and any unpaidinterest) is taxed in the year declared. The distributionalso may be subject to the additional 10% tax on earlydistributions. However, the tax will be deferred if youmake a rollover contribution to an IRA or other qualifiedplan equal to the declared distribution amount. SeeRollover Rules, next. If you withdraw any money fromyour TSP account the same year, the TSP must with-hold income tax of 20% of the total of the declareddistribution and the amount withdrawn.

More information. For more information about theTSP, see Summary of the Thrift Savings Plan for Fed- eral Employees, distributed to all federal employees.Also see Important Tax Information About Payments From Your Thrift Savings Plan Account, which is avail-able from your agency personnel office or from the TSP.

Rollover RulesA rollover is a tax-free withdrawal of cash or other as-

sets from one qualified retirement plan or IRA and itsreinvestment in another qualified retirement plan or IRA.You do not include the amount rolled over in your in-come, and you cannot take a deduction for it. Theamount rolled over is taxable later as the new programpays that amount to you. If you roll over amounts intoan IRA, subsequent distributions of these amounts fromthe IRA do not qualify for the capital gain or the 5– or10–year tax option. Capital gain treatment or the 5– or10–year tax option will be regained if the IRA containsonly amounts rolled over from a qualified plan and theseamounts are rolled over from the IRA into a qualifiedretirement plan.

4) Taxable part of monthly annuity[((3) ÷ (2)) × (1)][($0 ÷ $100,000) × $60] ................................... $ 0

Worksheet for Nonresident Alien Retiree or Beneficiary1) Portion of monthly annuity otherwise taxable $ 1652) Total basic pay for services for the United

States ............................................................... $ 120,0003) Total basic pay minus part that was nontaxable

as being from sources outside the UnitedStates.($120,000 − $40,000) ...................................... $ 80,000

4) Taxable part of monthly annuity[((3) ÷ (2)) × (1)][($80,000 ÷ $120,000) × $165] ........................ $ 110



A qualified retirement plan is a qualified pension,profit-sharing, or stock bonus plan, or a qualified an-nuity plan. The CSRS, the FERS, and the TSP areconsidered qualified retirement plans.

Distributions eligible for rollover treatment. If youreceive a refund of your CSRS or FERS contributionswhen you leave government service, you can roll overany interest you receive on the contributions. You can-not roll over any part of your CSRS or FERS annuity

payments.You can roll over a distribution of any part of your

TSP account balance except:

1) Any of a series of substantially equal distributionspaid at least once a year over:

a) Your life or life expectancy,

b) The joint lives or life expectancies of you andyour beneficiary, or

c) A period of 10 years or more,

2) A required minimum distribution generally begin-ning at age 701 / 2, or

3) A declared distribution because of an unrepaidloan, if you have not separated from governmentservice (see Outstanding Loan under Thrift Savings Plan, earlier).

In addition, a distribution to your beneficiary gener-ally is not treated as an eligible rollover distribution.However, see Qualified domestic relations order andRollover by surviving spouse, later.

Direct rollover option. You can choose to have theOPM or TSP transfer any part of an eligible rolloverdistribution directly to another qualified retirement plan

that accepts rollover distributions or to an IRA.No tax withheld. If you choose the direct rollover

option, no tax will be withheld from any part of the dis-tribution that is directly paid to the trustee of the otherplan.

Payment to you option. If an eligible rollover distri-bution is paid to you, the OPM or TSP must withhold20% for income tax even if you plan to roll over thedistribution to another qualified retirement plan or IRA.However, the full amount is treated as distributed to youeven though you actually receive only 80%. You mustinclude in income any part (including the part withheld)that you do not roll over within 60 days to another

qualified retirement plan or to an IRA.If you leave government service before the calendar

year in which you reach age 55 and are under age591 / 2 when a distribution is paid to you, you may haveto pay an additional 10% tax on any part, including anytax withheld, that you do not roll over. See Tax on Early Distributions in Publication 575.

Exception to withholding. Withholding from an el-igible rollover distribution paid to you is not required ifthe distributions for your tax year total less than $200.

Partial rollovers. If you receive a lump-sum distri-bution, it may qualify for capital gain treatment or the5– or 10–year tax option. See Lump-Sum Distributions

in Publication 575. If you roll over any part of the dis-tribution, the part you keep does not qualify for thisspecial tax treatment.

Rolling over more than amount received. If youwant to roll over more of an eligible rollover distributionthan the amount you received after income tax waswithheld, you will have to add funds from some othersource (such as your savings or borrowed amounts).

Example. You left government service at age 53.

On January 31, 1998, you receive an eligible rolloverdistribution of $10,000 from your TSP account. TheTSP withholds $2,000, so you actually receive $8,000.If you want to roll over the entire $10,000 to postponeincluding that amount in your income, you will have toget $2,000 from some other source and add it to the$8,000 you actually received. You must complete therollover by April 1, 1998.

If you roll over only $8,000, you must include in your1998 income the $2,000 not rolled over. Also, you maybe subject to the 10% additional tax on the $2,000.

Time for making rollover. You must complete therollover of an eligible rollover distribution by the 60th

day following the day on which you receive the distri-bution.Frozen deposits. If an amount that was distributed

to you is deposited in an account from which you cannotwithdraw it because of either:

1) The bankruptcy or insolvency of any financial insti-tution, or

2) Any requirement imposed by the state in which theinstitution is located because of the bankruptcy orinsolvency (or threat of it) of one or more financialinstitutions in the state,

that amount is considered a “frozen deposit” for the

period during which you cannot withdraw it.A special rule extends the period allowed for a tax-

free rollover for frozen deposits. The period duringwhich the amount is a frozen deposit is not counted inthe 60–day period allowed for a tax-free rollover to aqualified plan or an IRA. Also, the 60–day period doesnot end earlier than 10 days after the deposit is nolonger a frozen deposit. To qualify under this rule, thedeposit must be frozen on at least one day during the60–day rollover period.

Qualified domestic relations order. You may be ableto roll over tax free all or part of a distribution you re-ceive from the CSRS, the FERS, or the TSP under a

court order in a divorce or similar proceeding. You mustreceive the distribution as the government employee'sspouse or former spouse (not as a nonspousal benefi-ciary). The rollover rules apply to you as if you were theemployee. You can roll over the distribution if it is aneligible rollover distribution (described earlier) and it ismade under a qualified domestic relations order(QDRO) or, for the TSP, a qualifying order.

A QDRO is a judgment, decree, or order relating topayment of child support, alimony, or marital propertyrights. The payments must be made to a spouse, formerspouse, child, or other dependent of a participant in theplan. For the TSP, a QDRO can be a qualifying order,



but a domestic relations order can be a qualifying ordereven if it is not a QDRO. For example, a qualifying ordercan include an order that requires a TSP payment ofattorney's fees to the attorney for the spouse, formerspouse, or child of the participant.

The order must contain certain information, includingthe amount or percentage of the participant's benefitsto be paid to each payee. It cannot change the amountor form of the plan's benefits.

A distribution that is paid to a child, dependent, or,

if applicable, an attorney for fees, under a QDRO or aqualifying order is taxed to the plan participant.

Rollover by surviving spouse. You may be able toroll over tax free all or part of the CSRS, FERS, or TSPdistribution you receive as the surviving spouse of adeceased employee. The rollover rules apply to you asif you were the employee, except that you can roll overthe distribution only into an IRA. You cannot roll it overinto a qualified retirement plan. A distribution paid to abeneficiary other than the employee's surviving spouseis not an eligible rollover distribution.

You cannot roll over into an IRA any part of the dis-

tribution to which you apply the death benefit exclusion.

How to report. On your Form 1040, report the totaldistributions from the CSRS, FERS, or TSP on line 16a.Report the taxable amount of the distributions minus theamount rolled over, regardless of how the rollover wasmade, on line 16b. If you file Form 1040A, report thetotal distributions on line 11a and the taxable amountminus the amount rolled over on line 11b.

Written explanation to recipients. The TSP or OPMmust provide a written explanation to you within a rea-

sonable period of time before making an eligible rolloverdistribution to you. It must tell you about:

1) Your right to have the distribution paid tax free di-rectly to another qualified retirement plan or to anIRA,

2) The requirement to withhold tax from the distribu-tion if it is not paid directly to another qualified re-tirement plan or to an IRA,

3) The nontaxability of any part of the distribution thatyou roll over to another qualified retirement plan or

to an IRA within 60 days after you receive the dis-tribution, and

4) If they apply, the other qualified retirement planrules, including those for lump-sum distributions,alternate payees, and cash or deferred arrange-ments.

Reasonable period of time. The TSP or OPM mustprovide you with a written explanation no earlier than90 days and no later than 30 days before the distribu-tion is made. However, you can choose to have a dis-tribution made less than 30 days after the explanation

is provided as long as the following two requirementsare met.

1) You must have the opportunity to consider whetheror not you want to make a direct rollover for at least30 days after the explanation is provided.

2) The information you receive must clearly state thatyou have the right to have 30 days to make a de-

cision.

Contact the TSP or OPM if you have any questionsabout this information.

Choosing the right option. The following comparisonchart may help you decide which distribution option tochoose. Carefully compare the tax effects of each andchoose the option that is best for you.

How To Report BenefitsIf you received annuity benefits that are not fully taxa-ble, report the total received for the year on Form 1040,line 16a, or on Form 1040A, line 11a. Also include onthat line the total of any other pension plan payments(even if fully taxable, such as those from the ThriftSavings Plan) that you received during the year in ad-

dition to the annuity. Report the taxable amount of thesetotal benefits on line 16b (Form 1040) or line 11b (Form1040A). If you use Form 4972, Tax on Lump-Sum Dis- tributions, however, to report the tax on any amount,do not include that amount on lines 16a and 16b or lines11a and 11b; follow the Form 4972 instructions.

If you received only fully taxable payments from yourretirement, the Thrift Savings Plan, or other pensionplan, report on Form 1040, line 16b, or Form 1040A,line 11b, the total received for the year (except for anyamount reported on Form 4972); no entry is requiredon line 16a (Form 1040) or line 11a (Form 1040A).

Comparison Chart

Direct Rollover Payment To You

No withholding. Payer must withhold income tax of 20%on the taxable part even if you roll itover to another plan or to an IRA.

No 10% additionaltax.

If you are under age 591 / 2, a 10% ad-ditional tax may apply to the taxablepart, including the tax withheld, that youdo not roll over.

Not income untillater distributed toyou from the otherplan or the IRA.

Taxable part, including the tax withheld,is income if not rolled over.

Not eligible forcapital gain or5– or 10–year

tax option. *

May be eligible for capital gain treat-ment or the 5– or 10–year tax option ifno part is rolled over.

*May be eligible for capital gain treatment or the 5– or 10–yeartax option when later distributed to you from the plan thataccepts the rollover.



Part IIIRules for DisabilityRetirement andCredit for the Elderly orthe Disabled

If you retired on disability from the CSRS or FERS, thedisability pension you receive is taxable as wages untilyou reach minimum retirement age. Beginning on theday after you reach minimum retirement age, yourpayments are treated as a retirement annuity. At thattime or at any time thereafter, you can begin to recoverthe cost of your annuity under the rules discussed inPart II.

If you find that you could have started your recoveryin an earlier year for which you have already filed areturn, you can elect to start your recovery of contribu-tions in that earlier year by filing an amended return forthat year and each succeeding year. Generally, anamended return for any year must be filed within 3

years after the due date for filing your original return forthat year.

Minimum retirement age (MRA). This is the age atwhich you could first receive an annuity were you notdisabled. This is generally based on your age andlength of service.

Retirement under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). In most cases, under the CSRS, theminimum combinations of age and service for retire-ment are:

• Age 55 with 30 years of service,

• Age 60 with 20 years of service,• Age 62 with 5 years of service, and

• For law enforcement, firefighter, or air traffic con-troller service, age 50 with 20 years of coveredservice.

Retirement under the Federal Employees Retire- ment System (FERS). Your MRA under the FERS isbetween 55 and 57 with at least 10 years of service.With at least 5 years of service, your MRA cannot begreater than age 62. Specifically, your MRA with at least10 years of service is shown in the following table:

How to report. You must report all your disabilitypayments received before minimum retirement age online 7 (Form 1040 or Form 1040A).

Withholding. For income tax withholding purposes, adisability annuity is treated the same as a nondisabilityannuity. This treatment also applies to disability pay-ments received before minimum retirement age whenthese payments are shown as wages on your return.See Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax in Part I, ear-

lier.

Credit for the Elderly or the DisabledYou may be able to take the credit for the elderly or thedisabled if:

1) You were age 65 or older at the end of the tax year,or

2) You were under age 65 at the end of the tax yearand you meet all of the following tests:

a) You are retired on permanent and total disabil-ity,

b) You received taxable disability income in the taxyear, and

c) You did not reach mandatory retirement age (explained later) before the beginning of the taxyear.

You are retired on permanent and total disability ifyou were permanently and totally disabled when youretired and you retired on disability before the close ofthe tax year. If you retired on disability before 1977 butyou were not permanently and totally disabled at thetime you retired, you can qualify for the credit if youwere permanently and totally disabled on January 1,

1976, or January 1, 1977.

Permanently and totally disabled. You are perma-nently and totally disabled if you cannot engage in anysubstantial gainful activity because of your physicalor mental condition. A physician must certify that yourcondition is expected to result in death or has lasted,or can be expected to last, continuously for 12 monthsor more. Substantial gainful activity is the performanceof significant duties over a reasonable period of timewhile working for pay or profit, or in work generally donefor pay or profit.

For further information, see Substantial gainful activity in Publication 524, Credit for the Elderly or the

Disabled.

Mandatory retirement age. This is the age set by youremployer at which you must retire. There is no man-datory retirement age for most federal employees.However, there is a mandatory retirement age for thefollowing employees.

1) An air traffic controller appointed after May 15,1972, by the Department of Transportation or theDepartment of Defense generally must retire by thelast day of the month in which he or she reachesage 56.

If you were born in Your MRA is1947 or earlier ....................... 55 years1948 ....................................... 55 years, 2 months1949 ....................................... 55 years, 4 months1950 ....................................... 55 years, 6 months1951 ....................................... 55 years, 8 months1952 ....................................... 55 years, 10 months1953 to 1964 ......................... 56 years1965 ....................................... 56 years, 2 months1966 ....................................... 56 years, 4 months1967 ....................................... 56 years, 6 months1968 ....................................... 56 years, 8 months1969 ....................................... 56 years, 10 months1970 or later .......................... 57 years



2) A firefighter employed by the U.S. Government whois otherwise eligible for immediate retirement gen-erally must retire on the last day of the month inwhich he or she reaches age 55 or, if later, com-pletes 20 years of firefighter service.

3) A law enforcement officer employed by the the U.S.Government who is otherwise eligible for immediateretirement generally must retire on the last day ofthe month in which he or she reaches age 57 or, if

later, completes 20 years of law enforcement ser-vice.

Physician's statement. If you are under 65, have yourdoctor complete a statement certifying that you arepermanently and totally disabled. Attach the statementto your return. You can use the Physician's Statement in Part II of either Schedule R (Form 1040) or Schedule3 (Form 1040A). However, check the box in Part II anddo not attach a physician's statement if:

1) You filed a physician's statement for the same dis-ability with your return for 1983 or an earlier yearor you filed a statement for tax years after 1983 and

your physician signed line B on the statement, and

2) Due to your continued disabling condition, you wereunable to engage in any substantial gainful activityin the tax year.

If you have not filed a physician's statement in a previ-ous year, or if your statement did not meet the condi-tions in (1) above, you must have your physician com-plete a statement.

Figuring the credit. If you want the Internal RevenueService to figure your tax and credits, including thecredit for the elderly or the disabled, see Publication

967 and the instructions for Schedule R (Form 1040)or Schedule 3 (Form 1040A).

For detailed information about this credit, get Publi-cation 524.

Other BenefitsThe tax treatment of certain other benefits is explainedin this section.

Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA).FECA payments you receive for personal injuries orsickness resulting from the performance of your dutiesare like workers' compensation. They are tax exempt

and are not treated as disability income or annuities.However, payments you receive while your claim isbeing processed, including pay while on sick leave and“continuation of pay” for up to 45 days, are taxable.

Sick pay or disability payments repaid. If yourepay sick leave or disability payments you received inan earlier year to be eligible for nontaxable FECAbenefits, you can deduct the amount you repay. Youcan claim the deduction whether you repay the amountyourself or have the FECA payment sent directly to youremploying agency or the OPM.

Claim the deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040) asa miscellaneous itemized deduction, subject to the

2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit. It is considered abusiness loss and may create a net operating loss if itreduces your taxable income to zero. Get Publication536, Net Operating Losses, for more information. Therepayment is not eligible for the special tax credit thatapplies to repayments over $3,000 of amounts receivedunder a claim of right.

If you repay sick leave or disability payments in thesame year you receive them, the repayment reducesthe taxable sick pay or disability benefits you include in

income. Do not deduct it separately.

Terrorist attack. Disability benefits you receive for injuries resulting from a violent attack are tax exempt andare not treated as disability income or annuities if (1)the Secretary of State determines it to be a terroristattack, and (2) the attack took place while you were afederal employee performing official duties outside theUnited States.

Disability resulting from military service injuries.If you received tax-exempt benefits from the Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs for personal injuries resultingfrom active service in the armed forces and later receiveCSRS or FERS disability payments for disability arisingfrom the same injuries, you cannot treat the disabilitypayments as tax-exempt income. They are treated asa disability pension or annuity subject to the rules de-scribed earlier.

Payment for annual leave. When you retire, anypayment for your unused annual leave is taxed as asalary payment. It is not treated as disability or annuitypay, but is taxed as wages in the tax year you receivethe payment.

Part IVRules for Survivorsof Federal EmployeesSalary or wages earned by a federal employee but paidto the employee's survivor or beneficiary after the em-ployee's death are “income in respect of thedecedent.” This income is taxable to the survivor orbeneficiary. This treatment also applies to payments foraccrued annual leave.

Dependents of public safety officers. The deathbenefit payable to surviving dependents of public safety

officers (law enforcement officers or firefighters) whodie in the performance of duty is not taxable. The ben-efit applies to public safety officers who died from inju-ries sustained after September 28, 1976, and is ad-ministered through the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

The Bureau may pay the surviving dependents atemporary benefit up to $3,000 if it finds that the deathof a public safety officer is one for which a final benefitwill probably be paid. If there is no final payment, therecipient of the temporary benefit is liable for repay-ment. However, the Bureau may not require all or partof the repayment if it will cause a hardship. If that hap-pens, that amount is tax free.



The death benefit is not includible in the decedent'sgross estate for federal estate tax purposes.

Death Benefit ExclusionYou can exclude from income up to $5,000 paid to youas beneficiary of an employee or former employee be-cause of his or her death. However, the exclusion doesnot apply if the employee died after August 20, 1996.

The maximum total exclusion is $5,000 regardlessof the number of employers paying death benefits or thenumber of beneficiaries. If more than one person isentitled to death benefits, they must allocate the $5,000exclusion among themselves in proportion to the rela-tive value of their benefits.

The exclusion applies to the benefits you receivefrom the CSRS and FERS. It also applies to benefitsyou receive from the TSP if the employee's entire ac-count balance is paid to the beneficiaries within thesame calendar year. See Thrift Savings Plan, later.

The exclusion is treated as additional contributionsby the employee. Add the amount of the allowable ex-clusion to the employee's unadjusted cost in figuring

your tax-free benefits.

FERS Death BenefitYou are entitled to a special FERS death benefit if youwere the spouse of an active FERS employee who diedafter at least 18 months of federal service. At your op-tion, you can take the benefit in the form of a singlepayment or in the form of a special annuity payable overa 3-year period.

The tax treatment of the special death benefit de-pends on the option you choose and whether a FERSsurvivor annuity is also paid.

If you choose the single payment option, use thefollowing rules:

1) If a FERS survivor annuity is not paid, at least partof the special death benefit is tax free. The tax-freepart is an amount equal to the employee's FERScontributions (plus any allowable death benefit ex-clusion allocated to that benefit).

2) If a FERS survivor annuity is paid, all of the specialdeath benefit is taxable. You cannot allocate anyof the employee's FERS contributions (or any al-lowable death benefit exclusion) to the specialdeath benefit.

If you choose the 3–year annuity option, at least

part of each monthly payment is tax free. Use the fol-lowing rules:

1) If a FERS survivor annuity is not paid, the tax-freepart of each monthly payment is an amount equalto the employee's FERS contributions (plus any al-lowable death benefit exclusion allocated to thespecial death benefit) divided by 36.

2) If a FERS survivor annuity is paid, allocate theemployee's FERS contributions (plus any allowabledeath benefit exclusion allocated to the FERSbenefits) between the 3–year annuity and the sur-vivor annuity. Make the allocation in the same

proportion that the expected return from each an-nuity bears to the total expected return from bothannuities. Divide the amount allocated to the 3–yearannuity by 36. The result is the tax-free part of eachmonthly payment of the 3–year annuity.

CSRS or FERS Survivor AnnuityYou must use the Simplified Method or the GeneralRule to report your CSRS or FERS survivor annuity. If

your annuity starting date is after November 18, 1996,you must use the Simplified Method. Your annuitystarting date is the day after the date of the employee'sdeath.

The General Rule is not discussed in detail in thispublication. For information about it, see Publication939.

Three-Year Rule. If your annuity starting date wasbefore July 2, 1986, you probably had to report yourannuity using the Three-Year Rule. Under this rule, youexcluded all the annuity payments from income untilyou fully recovered your cost. After the cost was re-covered, all payments became fully taxable. You cannot

use another rule to again exclude amounts from in-come.

The Three-Year Rule was repealed for survivors withan annuity starting date after July 1, 1986.

Surviving spouse with no children receiving annui-ties. To use the Simplified Method, complete theworksheet (Table 1) discussed in Part II and printednear the end of the publication.

Example. Diane Greene, age 48, began receivinga $1,500 monthly CSRS annuity in March 1997 uponthe death of her husband. Her husband was a federalemployee when he died. She received 10 payments in

1997. Her husband had contributed $36,000 to the re-tirement plan.

Diane must use the Simplified Method. She fillsout the worksheet in Table 1 as follows:

Table 1. Simplified Method Worksheet1. Enter the total annuity received this year. Also

add this amount to the total for Form 1040, line16a, or Form 1040A, line 11a ............................. $15,000

2. Enter your cost in the plan at the annuity startingdate, plus any death benefit exclusion ............... 36,000

NOTE: If you received annuity payments in prioryears, skip line 3 and enter the amount from line

4 of last year's worksheet on line 4.3. Age at annuity starting date: Enter:

55 and under 36056–60 31061–65 26066–70 21071 and over 160 360

4. Divide line 2 by line 3 ......................................... 1005. Multiply line 4 by the number of months for which

this year's payments were made ........................ 1,000

NOTE: If your annuity starting date was before1987, enter the amount from line 5 on line 8 be-low. Skip lines 6, 7, 10, and 11.



Diane keeps a copy of the completed worksheet forher records. It will help her figure her taxable annuityin later years. Diane's tax-free monthly amount is $100(line 4 of the worksheet). If she lives to collect morethan 360 payments, the payments after the 360th willbe fully taxable.

Surviving spouse with child. If the survivor benefitsinclude both a life annuity for the surviving spouse andone or more temporary annuities for the employee'schildren, an additional step is needed under the Sim-

plified Method to allocate the monthly exclusion amongthe beneficiaries correctly.

Figure the total monthly exclusion for all beneficiariesby completing lines 2 through 4 of the worksheet inTable 1 as if only the oldest beneficiary (usually thesurviving spouse) received an annuity. Then, to figurethe monthly exclusion for each beneficiary, multiply line4 of the worksheet by a fraction. For any beneficiary,the numerator of the fraction is that beneficiary'smonthly annuity, and the denominator of the fraction isthe total of the monthly annuity payments to all thebeneficiaries.

Child's temporary annuity. Each surviving childwill receive a temporary annuity until the child reachesage 18, marries, or dies, whichever comes first. Thereare two exceptions to this. If the child is a full-time stu-dent after reaching age 18, the annuity will continueuntil the child stops being a student, reaches age 22,marries, or dies, whichever occurs first. If the child isincapable of self-support after age 18 due to a medicalcondition that began before age 18, the annuity willcontinue until the child becomes capable of self-support, marries, or dies.

The ending of a child's temporary annuity does notaffect the total monthly exclusion figured under theSimplified Method. The total exclusion merely needs tobe reallocated at that time among the remaining bene-ficiaries. If only the surviving spouse is left drawing anannuity, the surviving spouse is entitled to the entiremonthly exclusion as figured in the worksheet.

Example. Assume the same facts as in the DianeGreene example, above, except that the Greenes hada son, David, who was age 15 at the time of his father'sdeath. David is entitled to a $500 per month temporaryannuity until he reaches age 18 (age 22, if he remainsa full-time student and does not marry until that time).

In completing the Simplified Method Worksheet,Diane fills out the entries through line 4 exactly asshown above. That is, she includes on line 1 only theamount of the annuity she herself received and she

6. Enter any amounts previously recovered tax freein years after 1986 .............................................. 0

uses on line 3 the 360 factor for her age. After arrivingat the $100 monthly exclusion on line 4, however, Dianeallocates it between her own annuity and that of herson.

To find how much of the monthly exclusion to allo-cate to her own annuity, Diane multiplies the $100monthly exclusion by the fraction $1,500 (her monthlyannuity) over $2,000 (the total of her $1,500 andDavid's $500 annuities). She enters the result, $75, justbelow the entry space for line 4. She completes the

worksheet by entering $750 on lines 5 and 8 and$14,250 on line 9.

A second worksheet should be completed for David'sannuity. On line 1, he enters $5,000 as the total annuityreceived. Lines 2, 3, and 4 are the same as those onhis mother's worksheet. In allocating the $100 monthlyexclusion on line 4 to his annuity, David multiplies it bythe fraction $500 over $2,000. His resulting monthlyexclusion is $25. His exclusion for the year (line 8) is$250 and his taxable pension for the year (line 9) is$4,750.

Diane and David only need to complete lines 10 and11 on a single worksheet to keep track of their unre-covered cost for next year. These lines are exactly as

shown in the earlier example.When David stops getting his temporary annuity at

age 18 (or age 22, if applicable), the computation of thetotal monthly exclusion will not change. The only dif-ference will be that Diane will then claim the full exclu-sion against her annuity alone.

Annuity for a surviving child only. A method similarto the Simplified Method also can be used to report thetaxable and nontaxable parts of a temporary annuity (orannuities) for one or more surviving children when thereis no surviving spouse annuity. To use this method,divide the deceased employee's cost plus any death

benefit exclusion by the number of months from thechild's annuity starting date until the date the child willreach age 22. The result is the monthly exclusion. (Butthe monthly exclusion cannot be more than the monthlyannuity payment. You can carry over unused exclusionamounts to apply against future annuity payments.) Ifthe surviving child is entitled to a temporary annuityregardless of age because he or she is disabled, seeDisabled child, below.

More than one child. If there is more than one childentitled to a temporary annuity (and no survivingspouse annuity), divide the cost plus any death benefitexclusion by the number of months of payments untilthe date the youngest child will reach age 22. This

monthly exclusion must then be allocated among thechildren in proportion to their monthly annuity pay-ments, like the exclusion shown in the previous exam-ple.

Disabled child. If a child otherwise entitled to atemporary annuity was permanently disabled at theannuity starting date (and there is no surviving spouseannuity), that child is treated for tax purposes as re-ceiving a lifetime annuity, like a surviving spouse. Thechild must complete the Simplified Method Worksheetusing the recovery factor on line 3 corresponding to thechild's age at the annuity starting date. If, besides thedisabled child, there is another child, or children, enti-

7. Subtract line 6 from line 2 .................................. 36,0008. Enter the smaller of line 5 or line 7 .................... 1,0009. Taxable annuity for year. Subtract line 8 from

line 1. Enter the result, but not less than zero.Also add this amount to the total for Form 1040,line 16b, or Form 1040A, line 11b ...................... $14,000

NOTE: If your Form CSA 1099R shows a largeramount, use the amount on line 9 instead.

10. Add lines 6 and 8 ................................................ 1,00011. Balance of cost to be recovered. Subtract line10 from line 2 ...................................................... $35,000



tled to temporary annuities, an allocation like the oneshown under Surviving spouse with child, earlier, mustbe made to determine each child's share of the exclu-sion.

Limit on tax-free amount. If your annuity starting dateis before 1987, the tax-free part of each whole monthlypayment remains the same each year you receivepayments—even if the amount received is increased

or if you outlive the number of months used on line 3of the Simplified Method Worksheet.If your annuity starting date is after 1986, the most

that can be recovered tax free is the cost of the annuity.Once the total of your exclusions equals the cost whenannuity payments began, your entire annuity is taxable.If the annuity starting date is after July 1, 1986, anddeath occurs before the cost is recovered tax free, theunrecovered cost can be claimed as a miscellaneousitemized deduction (not subject to the2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit) for the beneficiary'slast tax year.

Lump-Sum CSRS or FERS PaymentIf a federal employee dies before retiring and leavesno one eligible for a survivor annuity, the estate or otherbeneficiary will receive a lump-sum payment from theCSRS or FERS. This single payment is made up of theregular contributions to the retirement fund plus accruedinterest, if any, to the extent not already paid to theemployee.

The beneficiary will be taxed in the year a lump sumis distributed or made available. The tax is on anyamount by which the lump-sum payment exceeds theemployee's contributions to the fund plus any deathbenefit exclusion.

Lump-sum payment at end of survivor annuity. Ifan annuity is paid to the federal employee's survivorand the survivor annuity ends before an amount equalto the deceased employee's contributions plus any in-terest has been paid out, the rest of the contributionsplus any interest will be paid in a lump sum to the em-ployee's estate or other beneficiary. Generally, thisbeneficiary will not have to include any of the lump sumin gross income because, when it is added to amountspreviously received under the contract that wereexcludable, it still will be less than the employee's totalcontributions (plus any death benefit exclusion, if it ap-plies).

Example. At the time of your brother's death inDecember 1996, he was employed by the federal gov-ernment and had contributed $45,000 to the CSRS. Hiswidow received $6,600 in survivor annuity paymentsbefore she died in 1997. She had used the SimplifiedMethod for reporting her annuity and properly excluded$1,000 from gross income.

Since only $6,600 of the guaranteed amount of$45,000 (your brother's contributions) was paid as anannuity, the balance of $38,400 was paid to you in alump sum as your brother's sole beneficiary. You figurethe taxability of this payment as follows:

Voluntary contributions. If a CSRS employee diesbefore retiring from government service, the voluntarycontributions to the retirement fund cannot be used to

provide an additional annuity to the survivors. Instead,the voluntary contributions plus any accrued interestwill be paid in a lump sum to the estate or other bene-ficiary. The beneficiary reports this payment minus theemployee's total voluntary contributions as income forthe year distributed or made available. This excess mayqualify for capital gain treatment or the 5– or 10–yeartax option.

Generally, the part of a lump-sum distribution fromactive participation in a year before 1974 may qualifyfor capital gain treatment. The part from active partic-ipation after 1973 is taxed as ordinary income. Thebeneficiary can choose to have this distribution taxedunder the 5– or 10–year tax option. This treatment ap-

plies only if (1) regular annuity benefits cannot be paidunder the system and (2) the beneficiary also receivesa lump-sum payment of the compulsory contributionsplus interest within the same tax year as the voluntarycontributions. For more information, see Lump-Sum Distributions in Publication 575.

Thrift Savings PlanThe payment you receive as the beneficiary of a dece-dent's Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account minus anydeath benefit exclusion is fully taxable. However, if youare the decedent's surviving spouse, you generally canroll over the otherwise taxable part of the payment to

an IRA tax free. (You cannot make a rollover to anotherqualified plan.) If you do not choose a direct rollover ofthe decedent's TSP account, mandatory 20% incometax withholding will apply. For more information, seeRollover Rules, in Part II. If you are not the survivingspouse, the payment is not eligible for rollover treat-ment.

The death benefit exclusion applies if you receive alump-sum payment as the beneficiary of the TSP ac-count of a government employee who died before Au-gust 21, 1996. Treat the exclusion as the cost basis ofthe payment. The taxable portion is the difference be-tween the payment and the cost basis. If you receiveTSP annuity payments that start after the death of the

employee, use the death benefit exclusion as the costbasis to determine the taxable portion of the annuity.

If you receive, as the beneficiary of the decedent,non-TSP payments that qualify for the death benefitexclusion, allocate the $5,000 exclusion among allpayments in the same proportion that the expected re-turn of each bears to the total expected return.

If the entire TSP account balance is paid to thebeneficiaries in the same calendar year, the paymentsmight qualify for the 5– or 10–year tax option. SeePublication 575 for details. Also see the TSP publica-tion, Important Tax Information About Thrift Savings Plan Death Benefit Payments.

Lump-sum payment .................................................. $38,400Plus: Amount previously excludable ..................... 1,000

Total .......................................................................... $39,400Minus: Employee's total cost ................................ 45,000

Taxable amount (not less than zero) ........................ $ 0



Federal Estate TaxForm 706, United States Estate (and Generation- Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, must be filed for theestate of a citizen or resident of the United States whodied in 1997 if the gross estate is more than $600,000.Included in this $600,000 are any taxable gifts madeby the decedent after 1976, and the specific exemptionallowed for gifts by the decedent after September 8,1976, and before 1977.

The gross estate generally includes the value of allproperty beneficially owned by the decedent at the timeof death. Examples of property included in the grossestate are salary or annuity payments that had accruedto an employee or retiree, but which were not paid be-fore death, and the balance in the decedent's TSP ac-count.

The gross estate usually also includes the value ofthe death and survivor benefits payable under theCSRS or the FERS. If the federal employee died leav-ing no one eligible to receive a survivor annuity, thelump sum (representing the employee's contribution tothe system plus any accrued interest) payable to theestate or other beneficiary is included in the employee's

gross estate.

Marital deduction. The estate tax marital deductionis a deduction from the gross estate of the value ofproperty that is included in the gross estate but thatpasses, or has passed, to the surviving spouse. Gen-erally, there is no limit on the amount of the maritaldeduction. Community property passing to the survivingspouse qualifies for the marital deduction.

More information. For more information, get Publica-tion 950, Introduction to Estate and Gift Taxes.

Part VRules for Survivorsof Federal RetireesRetirement benefits accrued and payable to a CSRSor FERS retiree before death, but paid to you as asurvivor, are taxable in the same manner and to thesame extent these benefits would have been taxablehad the retiree lived to receive them.

CSRS or FERS

Survivor AnnuityCSRS or FERS annuity payments you receive as thesurviving spouse of a federal retiree are fully taxableor are partly taxable under either the General Rule orthe Simplified Method.

Cost recovered. If the retiree reported the annuityunder the Three-Year Rule and recovered tax free allof his or her cost before dying, your survivor annuitypayments are fully taxable. This is also true if the retireehad an annuity starting date after 1986, reported theannuity under the General Rule or the SimplifiedMethod, and had fully recovered his or her cost tax free.

But see the discussions about the death benefit exclu-sion later in this part.

General Rule. If the retiree was reporting the annuityunder the General Rule, use the same exclusion per-centage that the retiree used. Apply the exclusion per-centage to the amount specified as your survivor an-nuity at the retiree's annuity starting date. Do not applythe exclusion percentage to any cost-of-living increasesmade after that date. Those increases are fully taxable.

For information about the General Rule, get Publication939.

Simplified Method. If the retiree was reporting theannuity under the Simplified Method, your monthly tax-free amount is the same as the retiree's monthly ex-clusion (from line 4 of the Simplified Method Work- sheet). This amount remains fixed even if the monthlypayment is increased or decreased. You continue toclaim this exclusion each month until the entire cost ofthe contract has been recovered tax free. This is shownin the example for Bill Kirkland under Simplified Method in Part II.

Limit on tax-free amount. A cost-of-living increase inyour survivor annuity payments does not change theamount you can exclude from gross income under ei-ther the General Rule or the Simplified Method. Thetax-free amount remains the same. The number ofpayments from which you can exclude a tax-freeamount may be limited, however, depending on theannuity starting date.

If the retiree's annuity starting date was before 1987,you can exclude the tax-free amount from all the an-nuity payments you receive. This includes any pay-ments received after you recover the annuity cost taxfree.

If the retiree's annuity starting date is after 1986, youcan exclude a tax-free amount only from a limitednumber of payments: those you receive until you re-cover the annuity cost tax free. The annuity paymentsyou receive after you recover the annuity cost tax freeare fully taxable.

Death Benefit ExclusionThe $5,000 death benefit exclusion does not apply tothe CSRS or FERS annuity paid to the surviving spouseof a deceased retiree. (But see Survivors of Disability Retirees, later in this part.) However, if the retiree diedbefore August 21, 1996, a child getting a temporary

annuity can get the exclusion.

Retiree survived by spouse and children. If theretiree is survived by a child or children entitled totemporary annuities, and a spouse is entitled to an an-nuity for life, the temporary annuities are treated sepa-rately from the life annuity. The children recover theallowable death benefit exclusion (which becomes theircost) by allocating it over the number of months fromtheir annuity starting date until the youngest childreaches age 22. See Annuity for a surviving child only under CSRS or FERS Survivor Annuity in Part IV. Thelife annuity is taxed as already explained.



If there is more than one child entitled to a temporaryannuity, each child is entitled to a portion of the deathbenefit exclusion. This portion is based on the value ofthe child's annuity in proportion to the total value of allthe temporary annuities.

Example. A retiree who died before August 21,1996, left a widow entitled to a survivor's annuity for lifeand two children, Sam and Lou, entitled to temporaryannuities. Sam's annuity is valued at $6,000 and Lou's

at $2,000. There are no other death benefits payableand the allowable death benefit exclusion is $5,000.The exclusion allocable to Sam's interest is $3,750[($6,000/$8,000) x $5,000]; and the exclusion allocableto Lou's interest is $1,250 [($2,000/$8,000) x $5,000].

Retiree survived only by children. If the retiree issurvived only by a child or children entitled to temporaryannuities, the children recover their cost, which is equalto the retiree's unrecovered cost plus the allowabledeath benefit exclusion, by allocating it over the numberof months from their annuity starting date until theyoungest child reaches age 22. See Annuity for a surviving child only under CSRS or FERS Survivor Annuity

in Part IV.If there is more than one child and one or more of

the children qualifies for an annuity after reaching age22 because of the lack of ability to be self-supporting,a determination of the proper exclusion for each childshould be obtained by writing to the Internal RevenueService. There is a $75 fee for this service.

Survivors of disability retirees. If you are receivinga CSRS or FERS survivor annuity as either the spouseor child of an employee who died after retiring on dis-ability but before reaching the employee's minimum retirement age (explained next), the death benefit ex-clusion will apply to your survivor annuity. Use the al-

lowable death benefit exclusion to increase your costof the contract in the same manner as if the retiree haddied while still a federal employee. See Death Benefit Exclusion in Part IV.

Minimum retirement age. This is the age at whicha person would first be eligible to receive an annuitywithout regard to disability.

Lump-Sum CSRS or FERS PaymentIf a deceased retiree has no beneficiary eligible to re-ceive a survivor annuity, the retiree's unrecoveredCSRS or FERS contributions plus accrued interest, ifany, will be paid in a lump sum to the estate or other

beneficiary. The estate or other beneficiary will rarelyhave to include any part of the lump sum in gross in-come. The taxable amount is figured as follows:

The taxable amount, if any, may qualify for capitalgain treatment or the 5– or 10–year tax option. Gener-ally, that part of a lump-sum distribution from activeparticipation in a year before 1974 may qualify forcapital gain treatment, while the part from active par-ticipation after 1973 is taxed as ordinary income. Thebeneficiary can choose to have this ordinary incomepart taxed under the 5– or 10–year tax option. If thebeneficiary also receives a lump-sum payment of un-recovered voluntary contributions plus interest, this

treatment applies only if the payment is received withinthe same tax year. For more information, see Lump- Sum Distributions and 5– or 10–Year Tax Option inPublication 575.

Voluntary ContributionsIf you receive an additional survivor annuity benefit fromvoluntary contributions to the CSRS, treat it separatelyfrom the annuity that comes from regular contributions.If, before death, the retiree was receiving additionalannuity payments from voluntary contributions and wasreporting them under the General Rule, use the retiree'sexclusion percentage. Apply the exclusion percentage

to your additional survivor annuity benefits as of theretiree's annuity starting date. If the retiree was report-ing the payments under the Simplified Method, use thesame monthly exclusion amount that the retiree used.If the annuity starting date was after 1986, the totalexclusion is limited to the amount of the voluntary con-tributions. After the total of these contributions has beenrecovered tax free, the additional annuity payments arefully taxable.

Each year you will receive Form CSF 1099R, State- ment of Survivor Annuity Paid, that will show how muchof your total annuity received in the past year was fromeach type of benefit.

The death benefit exclusion does not apply to an

additional survivor annuity from voluntary contributions.

Lump-sum payment. If at the time of the retiree'sdeath there was no one eligible to receive a survivorannuity, the retiree's unrecovered voluntary contribu-tions plus any interest would have been paid in a lumpsum to the estate or other beneficiary. Part of thelump-sum payment may be taxable to the beneficiary.To figure the taxable amount, add the lump-sum pay-ment to any excludable amounts received by the retireeand subtract the retiree's total voluntary contributions.The excess, if any, is taxable. See Lump-Sum CSRS or FERS Payment, earlier.

Thrift Savings PlanIf you receive a payment from the TSP account of adeceased federal retiree, the payment (minus any deathbenefit exclusion you claim) is fully taxable. However,if you are the retiree's surviving spouse, you generallycan roll over the otherwise taxable payment to an IRAtax free. (You cannot make a rollover to another qual-ified plan.) For information, see Rollover Rules in PartII, earlier. If you are not the surviving spouse, the pay-ment is not eligible for rollover treatment.

If the retiree chose to receive his or her accountbalance as an annuity, the payments you receive as the

1) Lump-sum payment .............................. $2) Amounts received under contract that

were excludable by retiree ................... $3) (1) plus (2) ........................................................... $4) Employee's total contributions .............. $5) Death benefit exclusion, if it applies (up

to $5,000) ............................................. $6) (4) plus (5) ........................................................... $7) Taxable amount (not less than zero) ((3) minus

(6)) ....................................................................... $



retiree's survivor are fully taxable when you receivethem, whether they are received as annuity paymentsor as a cash refund of the remaining value of theamount used to purchase the annuity. The death benefitexclusion does not apply to the annuity payments youreceive as the retiree's survivor.

Federal Estate Tax

A federal estate tax return may have to be filed for theestate of the retired employee. See Federal Estate Tax in Part IV.

Income Tax Deductionfor Estate Tax PaidAny income that a decedent had a right to receive andcould have received had death not occurred that wasnot properly includible in the decedent's final income taxreturn is treated as income in respect of a decedent.This includes retirement benefits accrued and payableto a retiree before death, but paid to you as a survivor.

If you are required to include income in respect of adecedent in gross income for any tax year, you candeduct for the same tax year the portion of the federalestate tax imposed on the decedent's estate that is fromthe inclusion in the estate of the right to receive thatamount. This also is true if you are required to includeincome in respect of a prior decedent. For this purpose,if the retiree died after the annuity starting date, thetaxable portion of a survivor annuity you receive (otherthan a temporary annuity for a child) is considered in-come in respect of a decedent.

The federal estate tax you can deduct is determinedby comparing the actual federal estate tax and the taxthat would have been paid if the income in respect of

the decedent were not included in the gross estate.Income tax deductions for the estate tax on the value

of your survivor annuity will be spread over the periodof your life expectancy. The deductions cannot be takenbeyond your life expectancy. Moreover, if you shoulddie before the end of this period, there is no compen-sating adjustment for the unused deductions.

If the income in respect of the decedent is ordinaryincome, the estate tax must be deducted as a miscel-laneous itemized deduction (not subject to the2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit).

For more information, see Income in Respect of the Decedent in Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators.

How To Get More Information

You can get help from the IRS in several ways.

Free publications and forms. To order freepublications and forms, call 1–800–TAX–FORM(1–800–829–3676). You can also write to the IRSForms Distribution Center nearest you. Check your in-come tax package for the address. Your local libraryor post office also may have the items you need.

For a list of free tax publications, order Publication910, Guide to Free Tax Services. It also contains anindex of tax topics and related publications and de-scribes other free tax information services availablefrom IRS, including tax education and assistance pro-grams.

If you have access to a personal computer andmodem, you also can get many forms and publicationselectronically. See Quick and Easy Access to Tax Help

and Forms in your income tax package for details.Tax questions. You can call the IRS with your taxquestions. Check your income tax package or tele-phone book for the local number, or you can call1–800–829–1040.

TTY/TDD equipment. If you have access to TTY/TDDequipment, you can call 1–800–829–4059 with your taxquestions or to order forms and publications. See yourincome tax package for the hours of operation.

Evaluating the quality of our telephone services.To ensure that IRS representatives give accurate,courteous, and professional answers, we evaluate thequality of our “800 number” telephone services in sev-eral ways.

• A second IRS representative sometimes monitorslive telephone calls. That person only evaluates theIRS assistor and does not keep a record of anytaxpayer's name or tax identification number.

• We sometimes record telephone calls to evaluateIRS assistors objectively. We hold these recordingsno longer than one week and use them only tomeasure the quality of assistance.

• We value our customers' opinions. Throughout thisyear, we will be surveying our customers for their

opinions on our service.



Table 1.

Enter the total annuity received this year. Also add this amount to the total for Form 1040,line 16a, or Form 1040A, line 11a

10.

1.

Your cost in the plan (contract) at the annuity starting date, plus any death benefitexclusion

2.

Age at annuity starting date:3. Enter:

55 and under

56-60

61-65

66-70

71 and over

360

310

260

210

160

Divide line 2 by line 34.

Multiply line 4 by the number of months for which this year’s payments were made5.

Enter any amounts previously recovered tax free in years after 19866.

Subtract line 6 from line 27.

Enter the lesser of line 5 or line 78.

Taxable annuity for year. Subtract line 8 from line 1. Enter the result, but not less thanzero. Also add this amount to the total for Form 1040, line 16b, or Form 1040A, line 11b

9.

Add lines 6 and 8

Balance of cost to be recovered. Subtract line 10 from line 211.

Simplified Method Worksheet (Keep For Your Records)

$

$

$

NOTE: If your Form CSA 1099R shows a larger amount, use the amount on line 9 instead.

See the instructions for the worksheet in Part II under Simplified Method.

NOTE: If you received annuity payments in prior years, skip line 3 and enter the amountfrom line 4 of last year’s worksheet on line 4.

NOTE: If your annuity starting date was before 1987, enter the amount from line 5 on line8 below. Skip lines 6, 7, 10, and 11.



Table 2.

Largest original monthly annuity payment available (after the reduction for a survivorbenefit, if applicable)

1.

Monthly annuity payment after election of lump-sum payment2.

Annuity reduction (subtract line 2 from line 1)3.

Lump-sum (contributions plus interest plus deemed deposits or redeposits). Also

include the result in the total for line 16a, Form 1040, or line 11a, Form 1040A

4.

The amount on line 4 minus interest5.

Divide line 3 by line 1 (round to 3 decimal places)6.

Tax-free portion of lump-sum payment (multiply line 5 by line 6)7.

Taxable portion of lump-sum payment (subtract line 7 from line 4). Also include theresult in the total for line 16b, Form 1040, or line 11b, Form 1040A

8.

Worksheet for Lump-Sum Payment (Keep For Your Records)

$

$

$

For annuity starting dates before November 19, 1996.



Index

AAlternative annuity option ........ 6

Annual leave ...................... 8, 14Annuity starting date ............... 5Annuity with survivor benefit . 15Annuity without survivor benefit 5

BBenefits, how to report .......... 12

CChild's temporary annuity ...... 16Civil Service Annuity Statement 4Community property laws ........ 9Cost (investment in contract) .. 4Credit for the disabled ........... 13Credit for the elderly .............. 13

D Death benefit ......................... 15

Death benefit exclusion ... 15, 18Deduction for estate tax ........ 20Deemed deposits, redeposits .. 7

Disability retirees ............... 5, 13 Disabled child ........................ 16 Distributions:Early, additional tax on ........ 9Qualified domestic relations

order ............................... 11Withholding on nonperiodic . 3

E

Estate tax ........................ 18, 20 Estimated tax ....................... 2, 3

FFederal Employees' Compen-

sation Act (FECA) .............. 14 Filing requirements .................. 4

Five– or ten–year tax option ... 7 Forms:

5329 ................................. 7, 9

CSA 1099R .......................... 3 W–4P–A ............................... 3

GGeneral Rule ................. 4, 6, 18

Gift tax ..................................... 8

HHelp from IRS ........................ 20

IIncome in respect of a

decedent ............................ 20Income tax deduction for estate

tax ...................................... 20Income tax withholding ...... 2, 13Investment in the contract

(cost) .................................... 4

LLimit on taxable amount .......... 9Lump-sum CSRS or FERS

payment ....................... 17, 19 Lump–sum payment ................ 3

MMandatory retirement age ..... 13

Marital deduction ................... 18Minimum retirement age . 13, 19

N

Nonresident alien retiree ......... 9

PPermanently and totally disa-

bled .................................... 13 Physician's statement ............ 14

QQualified domestic relations or-

der ...................................... 11

RReemployment after retirement 9Refund of contributions ........... 2Repayment of contributions .... 4Retirees, rules for .................... 4Retirement during the past

year ...................................... 8 Rollovers ............................ 7, 10

SSimplified Method .......... 4, 5, 18Substantial gainful activity ..... 13

Survivor annuity ................. 5, 15Choosing or cancelling after

retirement ......................... 5How to report ..................... 15

Survivor of disability retiree ... 19Survivors of federal

employees .......................... 14

Survivors of federal retirees .. 18

TTax-free part of annu-

ity ......................... 4, 5, 17, 18Taxable part of annuity ........... 5Thrift Savings Plan ............ 2, 10

VVoluntary contributions 8, 17, 19

W Withholding certificate ............. 3Withholding of income tax . 2, 13Worksheet, figuring taxa-

ble amount of annuity 6, 15, 21Worksheet, lump-sum pay-

ment ............................... 7, 22Worksheet, lump-sum payment

to beneficiary ..................... 19

us internal revenue service: p721--1997

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