It's possible that in 2022 you had Earned Income Credit that applied against your self-employment tax, leaving you with no tax liability or even a small refund for 2022. The $38,000 taxable distribution from the 401(k) will increase your AGI and make you ineligible for the EIC, so you'll end up paying the self-employment tax due to the loss of the EIC.
Under your circumstances, you should probably be doing some serious tax planning each year. With only the addition of the $38,000 taxable 401(k) distribution, your 2023 income tax liability on line 22 will still be less than the $7,500 EV credit, so it would likely make sense to increase your taxable income even further by making some amount of Roth conversion from your 401(k), maybe somewhere near $24,000, so that you take advantage of the entire $7,500 credit. Even in future years, it seems that some amount of Roth conversion each year, maybe around $10,000, would make sense to bring your AGI up to the amount of the standard deduction. Doing so will reduce future tax liability, particularly when you reach age 73 and you must begin receiving RMDs from the 401(k). (I'm assuming that your RMDs or any other future income will be large enough that they will bring your AGI above the standard deduction at some point. Still, even if your AGI will never be high enough to create a tax liability, the Roth conversions you do might benefit your heirs by reducing Income in Respect of a Decedent that they would have to include in their income.)
