What are the valid "other" reasons I can claim early withdrawal on my 401k?

[christine_gibson]

I took out my 401k as an early withdrawal. Was taxed on it at the time. I used it money to pay some bills off as I was getting seriously in debt. I put in my 1099-r forms and am now seeing my estimated refund drop from around 1k to 540$. I didn't take it out as a hardship withdrawal either. Can I put in the "other reasons" box the amount I took out?

[MelaineC]

Apart from the hardship withdrawal, the other would be any of the ones listed in the TurboTax FAQ below.  Please select 'see entire answer' to read the content.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/5881082

[dmertz]

To be clear, general "hardship" and using the money to pay bills are not an exceptions to the early-distribution penalty.

See the instructions for Form 5329 for the permissible Other reasons that qualify as an exception to the early-distribution penalty:  <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i5329#idm140449226340160">https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i5329#id...>