1099-R distribution code Q.

What the IRS says code Q requires

In Table 1, Guide to Distribution Codes, code Q is for a distribution from a Roth IRA "if you know that the participant meets the 5-year holding period" and one of three things is true: the participant has reached age 59½, the participant died, or the participant is disabled. The "Used with" column for code Q reads None, so a Q form should show Q alone.

The table adds a note: if any other code, such as 8 or P, applies, use code J instead. A Roth IRA distribution that is also a corrective distribution of an excess contribution therefore does not get Q.

The 5-year rule behind the code

The Instructions for Form 5329 define a qualified Roth IRA distribution as one made after the 5-year period beginning with the first tax year for which a contribution was made to a Roth IRA set up for you, and made on or after age 59½, because of disability, to a beneficiary or estate after death, or for the purchase of a first home up to $10,000.

The payer works from its own records, and your 5-year clock can start at a different institution. That is the reason code T exists: it covers the same three situations when the payer does not know whether the 5-year period has been met. If you see T or J but your Roth IRA has been open long enough, ask the payer for a corrected form and keep your own records of the first contribution year.

What you do with it

For a qualified distribution there is no early-distribution amount to carry to Form 5329, since the Roth rules in the instructions describe the amount on line 1 as the part of an early (nonqualified) distribution you must include in income. If you received code J instead and believe you actually had a qualified distribution, check Form 8606 first, then ask the payer whether it can correct the code.

Do not confuse Q with a designated Roth account in a 401(k) or 403(b). Those distributions use code B, with H for a direct rollover to a Roth IRA.

Worked example

Elena, age 63, opened her first Roth IRA in 2014 and withdraws $12,000 in 2026. The custodian has held the account since 2014, so it knows the 5-year period is met and she is over 59½. Her 1099-R shows $12,000 in box 1 and code Q. If she had moved the account from another firm last year and that firm's records did not carry over, the payer may show code T instead because it cannot confirm the 5-year period.

Where this code sits in the full table

This page covers one row of the IRS guide. The full 1099-R distribution codes lookup lets you search every code, and the neighbors of code Q are worth a look: 1, 7, G, 2, 8, J, T, B.

Sources

Retrieved November 1, 2026.

• IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2026): Table 1, Guide to Distribution Codes, and the box 7a, box 2a and Specific Instructions text on code Q.
• IRS, Instructions for Form 5329 (2025): Part I, additional tax on early distributions, the exception list (01 to 23) and Roth IRA distribution rules. This is the tax year 2025 edition, the latest read; the 2026 edition is published later.
• IRS, Instructions for Form 1040 (2025): Where IRA, pension and rollover amounts are reported.

Form 1099-R changes for 2026: box 7 becomes box 7a, and the IRS adds boxes 7b, 7c and 7d. On forms for earlier years the code is in box 7.