A Message to Participants

Since you are currently receiving benefits from PBGC and have an active MyPBA account, we’d like to share a few important messages to help with your end-of-year planning.

Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC)
The Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC), a federal tax credit administered by the IRS for health care insurance premiums, expires December 31, 2019. This means the HCTC will not be available to offset the cost of your health coverage that begins January 1, 2020.

The IRS sent a letter to all HCTC advance monthly participants, including PBGC participants who receive advanced monthly payments.

For additional information, please visit the IRS HCTC webpage.

IRS Income Tax Form 1099-R
Your PBGC benefit may be taxable depending on  your individual circumstances. We’ll provide a  Form 1099-R with instructions to assist you with  your taxes. Form 1099-R also serves as proof of  PBGC payee status for the HCTC.

Your Form 1099-R for benefits paid by PBGC will  be mailed to you through the U.S. Postal Service  by January 31, 2020.

Your Form 1099-R will be available to download  and print from MyPBA beginning February 3, 2020. To ensure your account is active, we encourage you to log in before you plan to file your taxes.  

It’s important to note that while PBGC withholds federal income tax, we do not withhold state taxes. If your state has an income tax, your PBGC benefit may be taxable. Please contact your state tax office with questions.

For additional information, please visit our IRS Income Tax Form 1099-R webpage.

 

2020 January Benefit Payment
If you receive monthly benefits from PBGC through direct deposit, you may have noticed that your payment is deposited early when the first of the month falls on a weekend or federal holiday. January is the exception.

For tax purposes, your January payment must not be distributed in 2019. January 2020 benefit payments made electronically will be deposited on Thursday, January 2, 2020.

For your convenience, printer-friendly PDFs for the 2020 direct deposit payment dates and check mail dates are available on our website. For additional information, please visit our 2020 January Benefit Payment webpage.