Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Box 12 is a checkbox and box 13 is a date. For box 12 the recipient instructions say “If checked, the payer is reporting on this Form 1099 to satisfy its Internal Revenue Code chapter 4 account reporting requirement under FATCA.” For box 13 they say “Shows the date of payment for reportable death benefits under section 6050Y.”
What boxes 12 and 13 are
The form prints them as “FATCA filing requirement” and “Date of payment”. Box 5 on the same form also mentions the section 6050Y payments, as described on the box 5 page. The rest of the form is indexed at Form 1099-R boxes explained.
Box 12: the FATCA filing requirement checkbox
The recipient instructions say: “If checked, the payer is reporting on this Form 1099 to satisfy its Internal Revenue Code chapter 4 account reporting requirement under FATCA.”
The next sentences read: “You may also have a filing requirement. See the Instructions for Form 8938.” Form 8938 is described on the Form 8938 page.
What the payer instructions say about box 12
The payer instructions are addressed to the payer. They begin: “Check the box if you are an FFI reporting a cash value insurance contract or annuity contract that is a U.S. account in a manner similar to that required under section 6047(d).” They continue: “In addition, check the box if you are a U.S. payer that is reporting on Form 1099-R as part of satisfying your requirement to report with respect to a U.S. account for chapter 4 purposes”.
The reminders at the start of the payer instructions list among the topics “Who must file (certain Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) and U.S. payers that report on Form(s) 1099 to satisfy their Internal Revenue Code chapter 4 reporting requirements)”. In the account number instructions the payer is told: “The account number is also required if you check the “FATCA filing requirement” box.” For box 2b the payer instructions say, in addition: “enter an “X” in this box if you are an FFI reporting in box 1 to satisfy your chapter 4 reporting requirement under the election described in Regulations section 1.1471-4(d)(5)(i)(B)”. Box 2b is covered on the box 2b page. If a form looks wrong against your records, see the page on what to do when a 1099-R is wrong.
Box 13: the date of payment
The recipient instructions for box 13 are one sentence: “Shows the date of payment for reportable death benefits under section 6050Y.” The payer instruction reads: “Enter here the date payment was made for reportable death benefits under section 6050Y.”
The payer instructions define the term. “Reportable death benefits are amounts paid by reason of the death of the insured under a life insurance contract that has been transferred in a reportable policy sale.” The general instructions also say: “Payments of reportable death benefits in accordance with final regulations published under section 6050Y must be reported on Form 1099-R.”
What the payer instructions say about reportable death benefits
The general instructions say: “Under section 6050Y and the regulations thereunder, a payer must report reportable death benefits paid after December 31, 2018, in connection with a life insurance contract transferred after December 31, 2018, in a reportable policy sale.”
They describe the return: “The payer of reportable death benefits must file a return that includes certain information, including the name of the reportable death benefits payment recipient, the date and gross amount of each payment, and the payer’s estimate of the buyer’s investment in the contract.”
Another passage says: “Regulations under section 6050Y provide that a section 1035 exchange constitutes a reportable policy sale in limited circumstances.” The 1035 exchange is covered on the 1035 exchange page.
How box 13 connects to code C, the other boxes and the policy number
The code table says “Use Code C for a distribution to report payments of reportable death benefits.” The code is explained on the code C page, and the other codes are indexed on the box 7 codes page. The recipient instructions add: “If code C is shown in box 7, the amount shown in box 1 is a receipt of reportable death benefits that is taxable in part.”
For box 1 the payer instructions say: “Include in box 1 the amount of any payment of reportable death benefits.” For box 5 they say: “For payments of reportable death benefits, enter your estimate of the buyer’s investment in the contract in box 5.” The recipient instructions for box 5 list “the investment in a life insurance contract reportable under section 6050Y”. Box 1 is on the box 1 page and box 5 is described on the box 5 page.
The code table for Code 4 also mentions these payments: “Use Code 4 regardless of the age of the participant to indicate payment to a decedent’s beneficiary, including an estate or trust.” and “Also, use it for payments of reportable death benefits.” Code 4 is covered on the code 4 page.
In the account number instructions the payer is told: “The policy number of the life insurance contract under which benefits are paid is required if you are reporting a payment of reportable death benefits.”
Related pages
The federal amounts are on the box 1 page and the box 2a page. The Form 1040 page is the Form 1040 page. The state and local boxes are on the boxes 14 to 19 page.
Edition and box numbers
The primary read for this page is the 2025 edition of Form 1099-R, the form received in early 2026 for tax year 2025. The 2026 edition was the one irs.gov served as current on 2026-10-17. The recipient sentences for boxes 12 and 13 read the same in both editions, and so do the filer instructions for both boxes. The 2026 instructions say “We renumbered box 7 and the “IRA/SEP/SIMPLE” checkbox to boxes 7a and 7b”. Boxes 12 and 13 keep their numbers. Check the tax year printed on the form you received and use the box numbers on that form.
Common mistakes
- Overlooking what follows the box 12 sentence. The recipient instructions continue: “You may also have a filing requirement. See the Instructions for Form 8938.”
- Reading box 13 as the date of any payout. The recipient instructions limit it to “reportable death benefits under section 6050Y”.
- Overlooking the account number sentence tied to box 12. The payer instructions say “The account number is also required if you check the “FATCA filing requirement” box.”
Related: Form 8938, 1099-R code C, 1099-R box 7 codes, what to do when a 1099-R is wrong, and Form 1040.
Sources
- Form 1099-R (2025) with Instructions for Recipient: IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
- 2025 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498: IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
- 2026 Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099r.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 17, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.