Note: The 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has suspended the itemized deduction for personal casualties and theft losses for tax years 2018 through 2025.
Do I have to repay my disaster distribution?
Generally, if you choose, you may repay any portion of a qualified disaster distribution. You may make this selection only if the distribution is eligible to be treated as a tax-free rollover in an eligible retirement plan. If you took a qualified disaster distribution in for hardship from your retirement plan, you may repay the distribution. There are *exceptions that apply to repayment of qualified disaster distributions.
From the day, after the date, you receive the qualified disaster distribution, you have three (3) years to make the repayment. The repayment amounts are treated as trustee-to-trustee transfer and are not considered income. The repayment to an IRA is not considered a rollover so there is no issue with the one rollover limitation per year for IRAs. If you need additional information on how to report your repayments, please reference Forms 8915-E or Form 8915-F, as applicable.
*Exceptions. The following types of distributions can’t be repaid per the IRS:
- "Disaster distributions received as a beneficiary (other than surviving spouse) that was a qualified disaster distributions.
- Required minimum distributions.
- Periodic payments (other than from an IRA) that are for:
- A period of 10 years or more,
- Your life or life expectancy, or
- The joint lives or joint life expectancies of you and your beneficiary.”
What if I purchased/constructed a new home with the funds?
Repayment of Qualified Distributions for the Purchase or Construction of a Main Home
You can choose to repay a distribution received for a qualified distribution for the Alaska (4585-DR-AK) disaster on January 1, 2021, to purchase or construct a main home in a qualified 2020 disaster area, no later than June 25, 2021.
If the qualified distribution (or any portion thereof) is not repaid before June 26, 2021, it may be taxable in 2021 and may be subject to the additional 10% tax (or the additional 25% tax for certain SIMPLE IRAs) on early distributions.
You may be able to designate a qualified distribution for the Alaska (4585-DR-AK) disaster as a qualified 2020 disaster distribution if all of the following apply.
1. The distribution was made on January 1, 2021.
2. The distribution (or any portion thereof) is not repaid before June 26, 2021.
3. The distribution can otherwise be treated as a qualified 2020 disaster
distribution.