1099-R distribution code T.

What the IRS says code T is

In Table 1, Guide to Distribution Codes, code T is "Roth IRA distribution, exception applies." The IRS tells payers to use T for a distribution from a Roth IRA "if you do not know if the 5-year holding period has been met" but the participant has reached age 59½, the participant died, or the participant is disabled. The note applies again here: if any other code, such as 8 or P, applies, use code J. The "Used with" column for code T reads None.

Compare the neighboring rows. Q requires the payer to know the 5-year period is met. J covers a Roth IRA distribution when neither Q nor T applies. T sits in the middle: the age, death or disability test is satisfied, and only the 5-year fact is uncertain.

Why a payer cannot tell

The 5-year period begins with the first tax year for which a contribution was made to a Roth IRA set up for you, and that Roth IRA need not be the one at the current payer. If you opened a Roth IRA at another firm years ago and later moved or consolidated accounts, the new custodian may have no record of the original year.

You are the one who can verify it. Look at Form 5498 or old statements for the first year of any Roth IRA contribution, and check whether the 5-year period had passed before the distribution. Form 8606 is where you carry the facts that decide the taxable amount.

What to do with a T form

If your 5-year period was met, the distribution is qualified under the Form 5329 definition, so the early-distribution amounts on Form 5329 do not apply. If it was not met, the distribution is nonqualified and the ordering rules in the Form 5329 and Form 8606 instructions decide whether any of it is taxable. Either way, keep your own records: the code is the payer's guess about information it lacks.

Worked example

Lena, age 66, opened a Roth IRA in 2016 at one bank, then rolled it into a brokerage Roth IRA in 2023. The brokerage knows only the 2023 start, so it reports her $9,000 withdrawal with code T. Lena's own records show her first Roth contribution was for 2016, so her 5-year period was long met. She treats the distribution as qualified and keeps her statements in case the IRS asks.

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 T are worth a look: 1, 7, G, Q, 2, 8, J, 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 T.
• 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.