As dmertz said,
Periodic payments are ones that are received in the form of a regular pension or annuity and are dictated by the terms of the plan or contract. If you instead receive monthly payments of an amount that you yourself chose and can change, they are nonperiodic payments.
You can take a single large distribution if you want or random smaller ones, or whatever. The point is whether or not YOU chose the size and dates of the withdrawal or the plan/contract does. It seems likely that you were unaware of this possibility.
To answer YES here means that TurboTax can use the Simplified Method to determine the taxable amount of the distribution; answer NO, and TurboTax doesn't. If the Simplified Method is used, then the box 2a entry is ignored.
As for "its pre checked no", a number of TurboTax screens make predetermined entries, whether or not they are correct for your situation. You are responsible for the answer no matter what.
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
