Taxes and Deductions

TRS retirement benefits are taxable. As a recipient of TRS benefits, it is your responsibility to determine your tax liability and, if necessary, to complete and submit federal and Montana tax withholding forms to increase or decrease the amounts withheld from your TRS benefits. Please note that TRS staff are not tax professionals and cannot advise you as to the amounts you should withhold. To ensure you are having adequate taxes withheld, you may wish to consult with a trusted accountant or tax advisor.

You can review your current tax withholding in My TRS, the secure member portal. You may even run "what if" scenarios to estimate how a change in your federal and Montana tax withholding would affect your net monthly benefit amount.

• If you have not yet established secure access to My TRS, see the Using 'My TRS' webpage for guidance.

To make actual changes to your tax withholding, you must complete, sign, and return IRS Form W-4P and/or TRS Form 115 Montana State Withholding Certificate to TRS. You can find these forms on the Member Forms page of this website, in the Retirees and Benefit Recipients section. Or, call TRS and ask to have the forms mailed to you.

1099-R Information

TRS retirees, survivors, and other individuals who receive one or more payments from TRS will be issued a Form 1099-R in late January of the following year. TRS typically mails these forms on the last business day of January.

• NOTE: For security reasons, the U.S. Postal Service will not forward mail containing private information to another address. If TRS did not have your current mailing address on file by the first of January, your form may be returned to TRS as undeliverable.

Accessing Your 1099-R Online

Starting on February 15 each year, you may log into My TRS to access your latest 1099-R, provided TRS has your current mailing address on file.

Retired TRS members who remain covered on their former employer's group health insurance plan after they retire may elect to have those insurance premiums deducted from their monthly TRS benefit. 

Please note that TRS has no connection to your employer's insurance provider. A retired member must contact their former employer (not TRS) to elect this option and must complete a TRS form to authorize the deduction. Any questions about premium amounts should be directed to the employer.

• You can find TRS Form 117 Authorization for Deduction of Health Insurance Premiums on the Member Forms page. 

Once you and your former employer have authorized the deduction, the employer must report the premium amount to TRS, who will continue to deduct the same amount from your benefit each month until the employer provides timely notification that the premium amount has changed or coverage has been terminated.

Because insurance premiums must be paid in advance, TRS sends the amount deducted from your monthly benefit to your former employer for payment of next month's premium. 

TRS cannot deduct premiums for individual policies or other types of insurance.