I took an early withdrawal from my 401K to pay a previous IRS tax year bill. Does this exempt me from the 10% early withdrawal penalty?

[hassanhyounes]

I received an IRS letter to pay the tax on the previous year,  not sure if this qualifies as an IRS Levy?

[KittyM]

To qualify as an exemption due to IRS levy, you must have received the IRS Notice of Intent to Levy CP 504.  

[dmertz]

So, no, this was not an IRS levy.  Using a distribution paid to you to pay taxes is not an exception to the early-distribution penalty.