It's that time of year when, for better and worse, we all must begin to think about taxes. This month our Retiree Services team has been busy generating, verifying, and mailing IRS 1099R forms to retirees and beneficiaries of all three of our retirement systems.

The 1099R Form

Earlier this month, we mailed a 1099R form to every retiree and beneficiary, specifically to the address that we have on file for you. Like other pension plans around the country, we are required to provide to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) what we paid in retirement benefits to each retiree and beneficiary for the calendar year. This is done via the IRS form 1099R, which we just mailed out this month, for benefits paid in calendar year 2017.

For those of you who are new to retirement, that is those of you who retired during calendar year 2017, this will be the first 1099R you receive from us. While the ultimate tax treatment could be different, you can think of the 1099R as similar to the W2 form you received from the County when you were actively employed.

Frequently-Asked Questions About the 1099R Form

It is understandable if you have questions about your 1099R form, particularly if you are new to retirement. So we have prepared a list of commonly-asked questions and answers for your information. It is available on this page.

Regarding Tax Advice

We are often asked questions regarding tax-related matters; regarding everything from exemptions to deductions to lump sum payouts. Unfortunately we are not in a position to provide advice, for a number of good reasons. First, none of our staff is trained or qualified to provide tax advice or financial planning recommendations. Their job, among other things, is to make sure that we pay each and every retiree and beneficiary the benefits that they are entitled to and, in the process, comply with all Federal, State, and County laws. Second, and perhaps more important, providing tax or financial planning advice would require us to have much more information about your financial situation than just what you are being paid in retirement. To provide accurate and competent advice regarding taxes and financial planning, a qualified professional will need to know a lot more about your overall financial situation. This could include your family situation, your assets, any money that you owe to others, other forms of income that you might have, and your long-term financial goals. Even if we could help you with this, it would not be appropriate or even advisable for us to have any more information about you than we already have.

Where Can You Get Help With Taxes?

The first place that you might want to look for tax and financial planning advice might be the 457 or 403b providers offered by the County and FCPS. For County retirees who have and/or are participating in the deferred compensation plan (called a 457 plan by the IRS), the provider (T. Rowe Price) offers this type of assistance. For Schools' employees, FCPS has similar providers (called 403B plans by the IRS) who can help you. In addition, many credit unions, banks, investment firms, and other financial institutions offer financial planning services. Finally, depending upon your needs, there are Certified Financial Planners (CFPs), tax accountants, estate planning experts, and attorneys who can help you.

I hope that this helps you understand a little bit about taxes and your retirement. As always, if you have suggestions, questions, or concerns - please email me. I want to be sure that we do all that we can to help, in any way that we can.

Sincerely,

Jeff Weiler
Executive Director - Fairfax County Retirement Systems

January 30, 2018