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The type and rule above prints on all proofs including departmental reproduction proofs. MUST be removed before printing.
Example 1. For the period January through March
2023, you received $300 ($100 × 3 months) Railroad Un-
employment Insurance. You were eligible for the SSEB
portion of tier 1 benefits of $509 a month beginning Janu-
ary 1, 2023, but you didn’t receive your first payment until
April 2023. The payment you received in April was for the
first 3 months of 2023. However, because you received
unemployment benefits during the same period, $300 was
deducted from your initial benefit payment. Instead of re-
ceiving $1,527 ($509 × 3 months), you received $1,227
($1,527 − $300). For the months of April through Novem-
ber, you were paid your regular monthly SSEB portion of
tier 1 benefits of $509. Box 3 of your Form RRB-1099 will
show $5,599 ($509 × 11 months) as the gross SSEB por-
tion of tier 1 benefits paid to you in 2023, even though you
didn’t actually receive that amount. This is because box 3
shows the gross amount of your benefits before any re-
ductions were made for the unemployment benefits paid
to you.
Example 2. You received tier 1 benefits of $600 a
month for the months of January through June 2023. Your
$600 monthly tier 1 benefits consist of an SSEB portion of
$250 and an NSSEB portion of $350. Beginning in July
2023, you became entitled to Medicare, and $164.90 a
month was deducted from your benefit checks for Medi-
care premiums. Therefore, the tier 1 payments you re-
ceived for the rest of the year were $435.10 ($600 −
$164.90) a month. Box 3 of your Form RRB-1099 will
show the gross SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits of $3,000
($250 × 12 months), because it’s the gross SSEB amount
before deductions for your Medicare premiums. Box 11 of
your Form RRB-1099 will show your Medicare premiums
of $989.40 ($164.90 × 6 months) deducted from July
through December 2023. The remainder of your tier 1 pay-
ments, the NSSEB portion of $4,200 ($350 × 12 months),
will be shown on the Form RRB-1099-R that you will re-
ceive along with your Form RRB-1099. The $4,200 is the
gross NSSEB amount before deductions for your Medi-
care premiums. (The Medicare Premium Total box shown
on your Form RRB-1099-R will be blank because the
Medicare total will be shown in box 11 of your Form
RRB-1099.) For more information on Form RRB-1099-R,
see Pub. 575.
Benefits paid for earlier years. The figure in box 3
includes any lump-sum benefit payment you received in
2023 that is for an earlier year after 1983. If you received a
payment for an earlier year, it will be shown in box 7, 8, or
9 (described later). See Lump-Sum Election, earlier, for in-
formation on how to treat the payment.
Box 4—Social Security Equivalent Benefit
Portion of Tier 1 Repaid to RRB in 2023
The figure shown in this box is the total SSEB portion of
tier 1 benefits you repaid to the RRB in 2023. You may
have repaid a benefit by returning a payment, making a
cash refund, or having an amount withheld from your pay-
ments. In addition, an amount may have been withheld
from your benefits to recover the SSEB overpayment in-
curred by someone else who is also receiving benefits
under your claim number. Also, an amount may have been
withheld from another benefit, such as a social security
benefit, to recover an SSEB overpayment you received.
The amount in box 4 also includes any SSEB benefits
you repaid in 2023 that were for 2023 or for 1 or more
years before 2023. All tier 1 repayments for years before
1986 are treated entirely as SSEB benefits.
Example 1. You returned to work for your last railroad
employer for the months of June through August 2023.
The SSEB portion of your tier 1 benefits was $450 for
each of those months. Because you aren’t allowed to re-
ceive benefits for any month you returned to railroad serv-
ice, you have to make a repayment to the RRB. You re-
turned the benefit payment for June through August 2023.
Box 4 of your Form RRB-1099 will show $1,350 ($450 × 3
months) as the SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits you repaid
to the RRB.
Example 2. From January through April 2023, you
were overpaid $800 in the SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits.
From May through August 2023, $200 a month was with-
held from your benefit payment to fully recover the $800
overpayment. Box 4 of your Form RRB-1099 will show
$800 ($200 × 4 months) as the SSEB portion of tier 1 ben-
efits you repaid to the RRB.
Example 3. As a retired railroad employee, you have
been receiving a railroad retirement annuity, including an
SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits, since 2022. You also be-
came entitled to, and received from the SSA, a social se-
curity benefit of $300 a month beginning May 1, 2023. The
SSA later authorized the RRB to pay that benefit. In Au-
gust 2023, the RRB began paying your social security
benefit to you and reduced the SSEB portion of your
monthly tier 1 benefit by $300. Social security benefits of
$900 ($300 × 3 months) covering the period May through
July 2023 were kept by the RRB to offset your $900 SSEB
overpayment for that same period. Box 4 of your Form
RRB-1099 will show $900 as the SSEB portion of tier 1
benefits you repaid to the RRB.
Note. The SSA will send you Form SSA-1099, which
will include the $900 in benefits paid by them for the
months of May through July 2023.
Box 5—Net Social Security Equivalent
Benefit Portion of Tier 1 Paid in 2023
The figure shown in this box is the net amount of the
SSEB portion of tier 1 benefits paid to you in 2023. It is the
result of subtracting the amount in box 4 from the amount
in box 3. If you received more than one Form RRB-1099
for 2023, you should add the amounts in box 5 of all
Forms RRB-1099 to determine your net amount of SSEB
payments for 2023. Use this amount to determine if any of
your benefits are taxable. See Are Any of Your Benefits
Taxable, earlier.
If parentheses are around the figure in box 5, it means
that the figure in box 4 is larger than the figure in box 3.
This is a negative figure and means you repaid more
Publication 915 (2023) Page 25