I've had them emailed several times. You could probably request regular mail.

My first and only for this tax season was a 1099-R from Vanguard (Roth conversion), which I received Jan 17.

The year end statement had two summaries of distributions: one for the first three quarters which agreed with my numbers, then the ones for the last quarter, after the "conversion" and it made no sense. Talking to someone on the phone did not help. Until I got the 1099 and that number was OK.

Oh, and there, again, were two 1099: one for the first three quarters the other for the last one.

Spouse today got only one of them..

though on Roth conversions I only do one conversion a year -- in mid-late December. I've been converting since 1998, though I've skipped maybe 4 or 5 years during that time. I wait to the end of the year when I have the most clarity of what my tax situation is, so as not to venture into the next tax bracket. I'm sorry to hear about your situation, even after a phone call...

When I do some transaction, I copy and paste the pre-submittal page and then the confirmation page just in case.

Do your regular Vanguard statements look OK?

I am talking traditional IRA. It used to be that i would withdraw, say, $1,000 and ask them to withhold 15%.

The confirmation would give both numbers and the amount $850 that was transferred to the bank. Now I get two notices: one, about the $1,000 withdrawal. Another, a day later, the amount that was electronically transferred to my bank.

Since you had only one transaction, the Roth conversion, there is not much confusion, I suppose.

and have until my January 15 estimated tax due date to make up for any shortfalls I incurred in the preceding calendar quarter.

Now that I think about it, my Roth conversions are two transactions: a withdrawal from my Traditional IRA, and an addition to my Roth IRA. But I only get one confirmation (saying x shares were transferred from my Traditional IRA to my Roth IRA). And one tax form -- the withdrawal from Traditional IRA part.

Although I did get an email from one source that indicated it was to come electronically. I will be in touch with them to make sure I get the paperwork I need.

For me, the problem with getting these things electronically is that I may not correctly read the email that tells me that, and might miss the actual document.