How long ago did she cash out the retirement money? She could have rolled it over to another account within 60 days. If it has been more than that--and sounds like it has since this is March---then she will pay 10% early withdrawal penalty on it and ordinary income tax in her tax bracket--if she has to pay any tax for her "next to nothing" income. Same thing happened to my college student niece whose taxes I prepare--but it ended up costing her about $22 which just reduced her refund amount.
She does have to enter the 1099R though-
Go to Federal> Wages and Income>Retirement Plans and Social Security>IRA 401 k) Pension Plan Withdrawals to enter your 1099R.
Try using Free File for her return so she does not have to pay for filing:
Try Free File:
You qualify if your income was $36,000 or less, or $69,000 or less if active duty military, or if you qualify for Earned Income Credit
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900583-what-is-turbotax-free-file-program
If you switch to Free File you must create a new account and new user ID.
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
