@ivatan wrote:
Thank you, @Opus 17 and @dmertz !
I have just sent an email to my former employer's 401k plan administrator and requested the distribution code be changed to "M". I hope I get a response quickly and before the tax deadline on April 18.
As I mentioned before, I believe you are legally entitled to perform the rollover if you are qualified, even if the code on the 1099-R does not agree. On the question of whether your offset was "qualified" or not, that is covered in @dmertz 's comments.
Second, if you insist on waiting to do the rollover until you get a corrected 1099-R, you should apply for the automatic extension to file your tax return. This will give you until October 15 to complete the rollover and file your return. Even though the extension is automatic, you still must actually apply for it.
