What is Form 8915-F Qualified Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments?
Form 8915-F is used to report a disaster-related retirement distribution and any repayments of those funds.
In prior tax years, Form 8915-E allowed you to spread the taxable part of the distribution over three years. This distribution schedule is no longer an option with Form 8915-F, but you can still report prior-year distribution amounts on your 2025 return.
How do I know if I qualify for 8915-F?
To qualify for Form 8915-F—and to be exempt from the early withdrawal penalty—a few rules must be met:
1. The withdrawal must come from an eligible retirement plan. This could be any of the following:
A qualified pension, profit-sharing, or stock bonus plan (including a 401(k))
A qualified annuity plan
A tax-sheltered annuity contract
A governmental section 457 deferred compensation plan
A traditional, SEP, SIMPLE, or Roth IRA
2. The distribution must be to an eligible individual. This is a person who was affected while living in a federally declared disaster area. This doesn't include any area that was declared a federal disaster area only because of COVID-19.
There's also a $22,000 distribution limit to the exemption. Any distributions over that amount may be subject to additional tax.
When do I have to pay taxes on disaster or COVID-19 related distributions I took in 2020?
The COVID-related distribution exemption was only for distributions made prior to December 31, 2020.
You had two options to pay tax on the distributions you took due to COVID in 2020:
You chose to report the income over three years, starting with the year you received your distribution.
So, for example, if you withdrew $15,000 in 2020 because of COVID, you'd report $5,000 in income each year on your return for 2020, 2021, and 2022.
You would have selected this option when completing your 2020 tax return. The portion of the prior-year distribution to be taxed in 2022 will appear on Form 8915-F.
You included the entire distribution as your income in 2020 and were taxed on the entire distribution at that time.
