1099-R distribution code 9.

What the IRS says code 9 is

Table 1 says: "Use code 9 to report premiums paid by a trustee or custodian for current life or other insurance protection." The used-with column says None.

Under the box 1 instructions, premiums paid by a trustee or custodian for the cost of current life or other insurance protection are included in box 1. Under box 2a, the payer includes the current life insurance protection costs (net premium costs) that were reported in box 1, and must not report them and a distribution on the same Form 1099-R. Each gets its own form.

The instructions also state that costs of current life insurance protection are not subject to the 10% additional tax under section 72(t).

How it affects Form 1040

The box 2a amount on a code 9 form is the figure to work from. The 2025 Form 1040 instructions for lines 5a and 5b describe pension and annuity payments in general terms and do not name code 9, so this page does not state a line-by-line entry. Ask the payer or a preparer how the cost is treated for your plan.

Because a code 9 form is separate from any distribution, a plan that both paid you money and paid an insurance cost should send you two forms.

Common mistakes

• Adding the code 9 amount to a distribution amount from another form. The IRS tells payers to keep them on separate forms.
• Assuming the 10% additional tax applies. The instructions say costs of current life insurance protection are not subject to it under section 72(t).
• Reading it as money you received. It is premiums paid by the trustee or custodian.
• Pairing it with another code on one form. Table 1 lists None for code 9.

Worked example

Illustration, not a real case. A plan trustee pays $450 in the year for life insurance on a participant inside the plan. The trustee reports $450 with code 9 on one Form 1099-R. A separate $12,000 payout to the participant that year would be on a second form with its own code.

Related codes

Code 9 sits beside 6, E, W. The full 1099-R distribution codes lookup lets you search every code; the other pages in this set are 6, E, F, K, S, U, W.

Sources

Retrieved November 2, 2026. Review status: needed before this page is treated as final.

• IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2026): Table 1, Guide to Distribution Codes, plus the box 1, 2a and 7a text.
• IRS, Instructions for Form 1040 (2025): lines 4a and 4b (IRA distributions) and 5a and 5b (pensions and annuities).

Form 1099-R changes for 2026: box 7 becomes box 7a. On forms for earlier years the code is in box 7. The Form 1040 instructions read are for tax year 2025.