Pension Sense blog | December 9, 2022 | Thomas Lawrence

After your holiday and New Year’s celebrations settle down, it’s a good time to look ahead to tax season and keep an eye out for important forms from CalSTRS. 

If you’re a retired CalSTRS member, you receive what’s called a “Form 1099-R” each year.

Form 1099-Rs report distributions from pensions, such as your CalSTRS benefit and other retirement and financial accounts.

Your 2022 form will be mailed in January 2023—and it will look a bit different this year.

Due to ongoing supply-chain issues, the form will now be printed on plain paper and mailed in a 6” by 9.5” envelope with this notice: “Important Tax Document Enclosed,” as shown above.

You may also view and print a copy of your current and previous 1099-R forms on myCalSTRS.

Additionally, the IRS released two revised forms: Form W-4P, which addresses your monthly CalSTRS pension, and Form W-4R, which applies to some other CalSTRS payments.

The updated forms include substantial changes to the federal tax withholding elections available to you. They also have changes to the calculation we use to determine your tax withholding amount, as of January 1, 2023.

A significant change to the W-4P form: You’ll no longer be able to adjust your withholding by electing a specific number of withholding allowances. The new form features blank input fields for increasing or decreasing the dollar amount to withhold, including fields for tax credits and deductions. If you already receive pension payments and don’t want to make changes to your federal tax withholding elections, you’re not required to file a new form.

Please see our additional tax information FAQs and Form 1099-R FAQ for more information.

For our retired members, we hope you’re loving this stage of your life. We’ll continue to lend a helping hand and make your financial planning a little easier.

For information on how to reach CalSTRS, visit the contact us webpage.