MindyB
Expert Alumni

Retirement tax questions

No, a job layoff does not count as a disaster.

 

Per TurboTax Help, "a qualified disaster is one that the president declares as a major disaster (a federally declared disaster). ‌These federally declared disasters are listed annually on FEMAs website and their FEMA number will contain the capital letters “DR”."

 

However, this sounds may qualify as an "emergency." An emergency will allow you to make a withdrawal, still subject to tax, but without the 10% early withdrawal penalty.  You can take one financial withdrawal emergency per year, not to exceed $1,000.