I Cashed out my 401k in 2017 and I am 61 years old. I was unemployed when I cashed it out. The 401k Trust fund withheld 20%. Can I get this 20% back? How do I do this?

[markjuly]

What forms from TurboTax do I need?

[DanielV01 · Accepted solution]

It depends.  Withdrawals from a 401K plan are considered taxable income, at least on the Federal Return.  Usually, the 401K trust will withhold 20% to protect against the early withdrawal penalty (which is an additional 10% tax added to the regular income tax).  You won't have this penalty because you are over 59 1/2.  It is likely that you won't get all  of the withheld tax back, but the only way to find out is by filing your tax return.  When you do, you will look for the Retirement Income screen on the Federal Income tab.  You will have received a Form 1099-R to report your retirement to you.  Put this information into TurboTax, and the program will help determine how much of these withheld taxes may be refunded to you.

[VolvoGirl]

You should get a 1099R for it.  The easiest way to get to the 1099-R entry screen is to simply search for 1099-R (upper- or lower-case, with or without the dash) in your TurboTax program and then click the "Jump to" link in the search results.

Enter a 1099R under
Federal Taxes on the left side
Wages & Income at the top

Then scroll way down to Retirement Plans and Social Security,
Then IRA, 401(k), Pension Plans (1099R) - click Start or Revisit

If you are filing a Joint return be sure to pick which person it is for.

If box 2a is zero or says unknown then leave it BLANK

After you enter the 1099R be sure to answer all the follow up questions on the next screens to determine how much is taxable or not. Go all the way to the end of the section. You have to enter it from the 1099R because there are codes on it you need to enter properly.