Repayments are payment amounts that are:
- paid back to the RRB, or
- returned to the RRB, or
- withheld from one or more railroad retirement annuity payments to repay an amount owed the RRB, or
- withheld from one or more social security benefits paid by the RRB to repay an amount owed either the RRB or the Social Security Administration.
The way repayments are handled depends on the type of payment being repaid, the dollar amount of the repayments credited in a given tax year, the tax years to which the repayments apply, and whether the payments being repaid were reported as taxable income when originally paid.
Railroad retirement annuity payments may be used to recover overpaid:
- railroad retirement annuity payments.
- unemployment and/or sickness benefits paid by the RRB, or
- social security benefits paid by the RRB.
Social security benefits paid by the RRB may be used to recover overpaid:
- railroad retirement annuity payments if the overpayments are due to social security benefit entitlement, or
- social security benefits paid by the RRB
Note - If an annuitant receives a payment from which income taxes were withheld, and it is determined in a later year that the annuitant was not entitled to the payment, the tax withholding amount is part of the amount not due.
- Social Security Equivalent Benefit (SSEB) Repayments
The SSEB repayments consist of amounts repaid, returned, or recovered. The Internal Revenue Code allows repayment credit to be reported to the IRS if the repayments cover amounts previously reported to the IRS as taxable or nontaxable when they were originally paid.
- Non-Social Security Equivalent Benefit (NSSEB) Repayments
The NSSEB repayments consist of amounts repaid, returned, or recovered for payments previously reported to the IRS as taxable when they were paid.
- Tier II Repayments
Tier II repayments consist of amounts repaid, returned, or recovered for payments previously reported to the IRS as taxable when they were paid.
- Vested Dual Benefit (VDB) Repayments
VDB repayments consist of amounts repaid, returned, or recovered for payments previously reported to the IRS as taxable when they were paid.
- Supplemental Annuity Repayments
Supplemental annuity repayments consist of amounts repaid, returned, or recovered for payments previously reported to the IRS as taxable when they were paid.
Refer to IRS Publication 575, Pension and Annuity Income, for additional information regarding NSSEB, tier II, VDB and supplemental annuity repayments. Also refer to the IRS publication for special rules that apply when these repayments exceed $3,000 in a given year.