1099-R Code 4: Death

You received this money as a beneficiary after the account owner died.

What the IRS instructions say

Official meaning, from the Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 Used regardless of the participant's age to indicate payment to a decedent's beneficiary, including an estate or trust, and for reportable death benefit payments.

Is it taxable, and does the 10 percent penalty apply?

Never subject to the 10 percent early distribution tax, but pre-tax amounts are taxable income to the beneficiary. Inherited account rules control what you can do next: most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty the account within 10 years; spouses have more options.

Worth knowing: An inherited IRA moved by direct transfer between custodians is often not reported as a distribution at all; code 4 shows up when money is actually paid out or directly rolled.

Combinations you might see

Box 7 can carry two codes. With code 4, the pairings mean:

4G: a direct rollover of inherited plan money to an inherited IRA (or the surviving spouse's own)
4H: inherited designated Roth account rolled directly to a Roth IRA
48 / 4P: death distribution that includes returned excess contributions
4L / 4M / 4K / 4D: death paired with loan, hard-to-value asset, or annuity contexts

If this code looks wrong

The IRS matches Box 7 against your return, so start with the payer: request a corrected 1099-R, which is the IRS's standing instruction for incorrect forms. No corrected copy by the end of February? The IRS can contact the payer for you, and Form 4852 substitutes as a last resort. Remember that an indirect 60-day rollover is correctly coded 1 or 7, because the payer cannot see the redeposit; direct rollovers should show G or H, as our rollover guide explains before the paperwork ever gets cut.

← All 1099-R Box 7 codes

Sources: IRS Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498; IRS Tax Topics 558 (early distributions), 413 (rollovers), and 154 (incorrect forms). Verified July 2026.

General educational information, not tax advice. Your distribution's taxation depends on your facts; consult a qualified tax professional. ClearChoiceRadar is not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency.