how can i determine if the taxable amount on my 1099-R for my annuity is taxable this year?

It depends on how the funds were added to your annuity account.

1. If you contributed to your annuity completely with after tax funds then you may have a tax free portion of your retirement that represents your contributions. 
2. If your employer contributed all of the funds to the retirement, then all of it is taxable. 
3. If you contributed to part of retirement with after tax funds and your employer contributed also, you should have a tax free portion.
   • Your cost will always be the amount contributed with after tax dollars.

What is the General Rule? IRS Publication 575

This is the method generally used to determine the tax treatment of pension and annuity income from nonqualified plans (including commercial annuities). For a qualified plan, you can’t generally use the General Rule unless your annuity starting date is before November 19, 1996. Although this publication will help you determine whether you can use the General Rule, it won't help you use it to determine the tax treatment of your pension or annuity income. For that and other information on the General Rule, see Publication 939, General Rule for Pensions and Annuities.

What is the Simplified Method?

Under the Simplified Method, you figure the tax-free part of each annuity payment by dividing your cost by the total number of anticipated monthly payments. For an annuity that is payable for the lives of the annuitants, this number is based on the annuitants' ages on the annuity starting date and is determined from a table. For any other annuity, this number is the number of monthly annuity payments under the contract.