Updated September 28, 2026. Quick answer: code T means the custodian knows you reached 59½, died, or are disabled, but does not know whether your Roth IRA has met the 5-year holding period, often because the account moved between providers and the history did not transfer with it. Your own facts, not the code, decide whether the distribution is taxable.
Related figures and codes: 1099-R Code 8, 1099-R Code A and 1099-R Code B.
What the IRS tells the payer
From the current instructions, code T is “Roth IRA distribution, exception applies”. The full instruction text reads: “Use code 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. Note: If any other code, such as 8 or P, applies, use code J.” It may be used with: None.
Working out your own clock
Code T and code Q describe the identical underlying facts, an age, death, or disability event, with only the custodian’s certainty about the 5-year period differing. If you can establish that your 5-taxable-year Roth period has ended, the distribution is qualified regardless of what the custodian could verify. Under section 408A(d)(2)(B), that period starts with the first tax year for which you made a contribution to any Roth IRA, so a first contribution for 2020 means the period ended after 2024. See the Box 7 table for how Q and T compare side by side.
Which line it drives
The current Form 1040 instructions give a specific carve-out for code T: you can enter the total on line 4a and zero on line 4b without filing Form 8606 if “Distribution code T is shown in box 7 of Form 1099-R and you made a contribution (including a conversion) to a Roth IRA for 2020 or an earlier year.” For a 2025 distribution, a contribution that old guarantees the 5-year period has passed. If your Roth history does not reach back that far, the instructions route you to Form 8606 to work out the taxable amount yourself.
Common mistakes
- Assuming code T itself means something is wrong or that tax is owed. It usually just means the custodian’s records are incomplete.
- Not keeping your own record of your first Roth contribution or conversion date, the one fact nobody else reliably holds.
Box 7 is the payer’s claim, not the law
The code in Box 7a records what the custodian knew when it cut the cheque. It is not a ruling on what you owe, and the IRS instructions say so in as many words. On code 1 the instruction to payers is to use it “even if the distribution is made for medical expenses, health insurance premiums, qualified higher education expenses, a first-time home purchase…” and a list of other genuine statutory exceptions.
Related codes worth reading alongside this one: code Q.
Every code in one place: the Box 7 table. If yours looks wrong: how to fix it.
Figures verified against the IRS Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2026), the IRS Instructions for Form 1040 (2025), and 26 U.S.C. 408A on September 30, 2026.
Sources
- IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2026), Table 1, Guide to Distribution Codes: https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099r
- IRS, Instructions for Form 5329 (2025): https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i5329
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1040 (2025): https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040gi
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How our partner relationships workCode meanings are read from the IRS Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (current edition, tax year 2026), Table 1, Guide to Distribution Codes, at irs.gov on September 28, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.