Is a distribution from a qualified plan free from penalty if this plan was a result of a direct rollover that was 5+ year qualified plan. I am unemployed to this day

[janordmaniv]

This distribution was from a new plan that was transferred from my old employer and was 5+ years old.  Will this make this dist.  be subject to penalty.  I had a hardship of losing my job?

[DawnC]

There is no penalty if the distributed funds were rolled over to another eligible retirement plan.  

Unlike a loan against your 401(k), a hardship withdrawal can’t be repaid. It will be treated as a taxable distribution and reported on a 1099-R.  In most cases, you can’t make contributions to the plan again for at least six months following your withdrawal.

If you took the hardship withdrawal before you turned 59 1/2, you'll pay a 10% early withdrawal penalty, with a few exceptions. Your distribution will also be included in your gross income.

Once you enter the distribution information from your 1099-R form, we'll help you check for any exceptions that could reduce the tax.

[dmertz · Accepted solution]

"Hardship" is not an exception to the early distribution penalty.  The fact that your account in the old plan was held for 5 years is also not an exception to the early-distribution penalty.

The link provided by DawnC may or may not apply depending on the type of account that received the rollover from the old plan.  The IRS provides a complete list of exceptions:

https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-tax-on-early-distri...