General hardship is not an exception to the early-distribution penalty. The permissible penalty exceptions are for specific circumstances that created a hardship, not the hardship itself. You are not permitted to claim a code 12 Other reason exception to the penalty just because you needed the money, it has to be for one of the explicitly allows exceptions listed for code 12 in the Instructions for Form 5329:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i5329.pdf
