Is there a trick to entering a CSF 1099R_LS form for a civil service employee death benefit. I tried entering it by submitting a photo and manually. TT says Needs Review.

Box 2a needs to be computed.

TurboTax Online will use the simplified method to determine the taxable portion for box 2a of your CSA 1099-R.   Presume that:

• Monthly payments were received, 
• Payments started in 2024, and 
• That box 7 is code 7.

You will need to know:

• The amount of the employee contributions (should be in box 9b),
• The date the annuity started,
• The number of months that payments were received in 2023, 
• The age of the recipient when the annuity started,
• The age of other beneficiaries (if there are any), and 
• Was the recipient under the retirement age for the plan.

Follow these steps:

• Down the left side of the screen, click Federal.
• Down the left side of the screen, click Wages & Income.
• Click the drop down menu to the right of Retirement Plans and Social Security.
• Click to the right of IRA 401(k) Pension Plan Withdrawal (1099-R).
• At the screen Let's import your tax info. select Change how I enter my form.
• At the screen How would you like to upload, select Type it in myself.
• At the screen Who gave you a 1099-R, select  Office of Personnel Management (CSA 1099-R).
• At the screen Any Periodic Payments? select  Yes, got regular payments from this retirement account.
• At the screen Payment Start Year select Yes started getting payments in 2024.
• At the screen Let’s figure out how much is taxable, select I need to figure out how much of this money I took out is taxable.
• At the screen Enter Annuity Information enter required information.  Plan Cost should be in box 9b.
• At the screen Enter Ages enter required information.

View Federal 1040 tax return line 5a and 5b at Tax Tools / Tools / View Tax Summary / Preview my 1040.

Thanks for the info. My situation is different from the scenario you described. I received a one-time Child Survivor Benefit for a parent who was a retired civil service employee. No taxes were withheld. I typed in the CSF 1099R_LS form similarly to the way you describe. 

At the Review your 1099-R info panel where it says my Office of Personnel Management "Needs Review", I click the magnifying glass icon

On the Who does this 1099-R belong to panel, I indicate the form belongs to me.

On the Who gave you a 1099-R? panel, I select Office of Personnel Management (CSF 1099-R)

On the Now, let's review your 1099-R provider's info panel, all of the information matches my form from OPM

On the Enter your CSF-1099-R details panel,
- Box 1 Gross Distribution matches my number from form
- Box 2a was entered originally as blank but now has a value equal to Box 1
- Box 4 is 0.00
- Box 5 i blank
- Box 7 is 4 (for Death Benefit)

On the Where is your distribution from? panel, I selected Other distribution

On the Do any of these situations apply to you? panel, I selected None of these apply

On the When was the original retirement plan owner born? panel, I selected They were born before January 1, 1951

On the Was This Distribution From a 403(b) Plan? panel, I selected Yes, this is a 403(b) plan

On the Let's get more information about your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), I entered $0

On the Tell us if you moved the money through a rollover or conversion panel, I selected I didn't roll over or convert this money

Then I enter continue at the We found a few other questions about your situation panel

On the Annuity Payments Start Year, I enter started getting payments in 2024

On the Any Periodic Payments? panel, I select No, didn't get regular payments from this retirement account.

And then I end up right back at the Review your 1099-R info panel and the Office of Personnel Management still indicate it "Needs Review"

I seem to be stuck in an endless loop.