Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Form SSA-1099 reports social security benefits and Form RRB-1099 reports the social security equivalent part of railroad retirement tier 1 benefits. Publication 915 says of SSA-1099 box 5 that “The figure in this box is the net benefits paid to you for the year.” Find your form and box in the table below.
IRS worksheets read line by line: Social Security Worksheet A, Social Security Lump-Sum Worksheet 3 and Social Security Lump-Sum Election Worksheet 4.
Related reading on this site: IRS Publication 915.
Read box by box from the IRS form text: Form RRB-1099-R boxes explained and Form RRB-1099-R boxes 3 and 4.
The boxes, one page each
Each row links to the page that reads that box. The right column is a line from Publication 915, the IRS publication prepared with the SSA and the Railroad Retirement Board. For the broader picture of how a statement is read, the SSA-1099 overview is the one-page summary.
| Page | What Publication 915 says |
|---|---|
| SSA-1099 box 3 | “The figure shown in this box is the total benefits paid in 2025 to you (the person named in box 1).” |
| SSA-1099 box 4 | “The figure shown in this box is the total amount of benefits you repaid to the SSA in 2025.” |
| SSA-1099 box 5 | “The figure in this box is the net benefits paid to you for the year.” |
| SSA-1099 box 6 | “This shows the total amount of federal income tax withheld from your benefits.” |
| SSA-1099 Medicare premiums | “If you have Medicare premiums deducted from your benefits, this is the amount withheld during 2025.” |
| RRB-1099 box 3 | “The figure shown in this box is the gross SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits or special guaranty benefits paid to you in 2025.” |
| RRB-1099 boxes 4 and 5 | “The figure shown in this box is the total SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits you repaid to the RRB in 2025.” |
| RRB-1099 box 6 | “Your workers’ compensation amount is shown in this box separately only for your information.” |
| RRB-1099 boxes 7, 8, 9 | “This amount is included in the amount shown in box 3.” |
| RRB-1099 boxes 10 and 11 | “Include this amount on your income tax return as tax withheld.” |
Which form you received
Publication 915 introduces the two statements together: “you should have received a Form SSA-1099, Social Security Benefit Statement; Form RRB-1099, Payments by the Railroad Retirement Board”. It also tells you what the railroad board’s other statement is for: “If you received, repaid, or had tax withheld from any NSSEB portion of tier 1 benefits” you receive a separate Form RRB-1099-R, which is covered in Publication 575, not here.
A social security payment made through the railroad board is not on the railroad form: “Social security benefits paid through the RRB aren’t reported on Form RRB-1099 or RRB-1042S.”
Edition this guide follows
Every page in this guide reads Publication 915 for 2025 returns, the edition irs.gov served on 2026-10-17, together with the sample statements printed in it. No later edition of the publication was available to read. Check the tax year printed on the statement you hold.
What is not covered here
The nonresident alien statements, Form SSA-1042S and Form RRB-1042S, use different box numbers and are left out of this guide.
Common mistakes
- Using box 3 instead of box 5 when working out how much of your benefit is taxable. Publication 915 says of the box 5 figure: “Enter this amount on line A of IRS Notice 703 or on line 1 of Worksheet 1 or on the worksheet in the Instructions for Form 1040.”
- Subtracting Medicare premiums from box 5 before using it. The publication’s tip is “Don’t reduce the amount of net social security benefits (box 5) by any of the items listed below.”
- Looking for railroad retirement amounts on the wrong form. “Social security benefits paid through the RRB aren’t reported on Form RRB-1099 or RRB-1042S.”
Related: SSA-1099 overview, The social security tax torpedo, How railroad retirement tiers are taxed, and Form 1040.
Sources
- Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits (for 2025 returns): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p915.pdf
- IRS web edition of Publication 915 (2025): https://www.irs.gov/publications/p915
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.