What Is Form 8895 for Disaster Distributions?

Form 8915-F, Qualified Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments, is an Internal Revenue Service tax form for individuals who have taken distributions from their retirement plans due to a qualified disaster. Its function is to report these distributions and any subsequent repayments, allowing taxpayers to receive favorable tax treatment on funds intended for financial relief.

The rules for these distributions were standardized by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, which made the tax relief provisions a permanent feature of the tax code for federally declared disasters. By filing Form 8915-F, individuals can manage the tax implications of accessing their retirement savings during a difficult time.

Determining Your Eligibility to File

To use Form 8915-F, a taxpayer must meet several criteria established by the IRS. The primary requirement is that the individual must be a “qualified individual.” This designation applies to someone whose main home was located in a federally declared disaster area and who has sustained an economic loss as a result of the disaster. The economic loss can be from various causes, such as damage to a home or business, or loss of income.

The event must be a major disaster officially declared by the President under the Stafford Act. To verify if an event is a qualified disaster, taxpayers should consult the official lists on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or IRS websites.

The distribution itself must be a “qualified disaster distribution” from eligible retirement plans, which include traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, and 403(b)s. For disasters occurring on or after January 26, 2021, these distributions must be made within a 180-day period that begins on the first day of the disaster’s incident period. The total amount is limited to an aggregate of $22,000 per individual, per disaster, across all their retirement plans and IRAs.

Information and Decisions for Form 8915-F

Before filling out Form 8915-F, you must gather several pieces of information. You will need your personal details, including your name and Social Security Number. You must also have the official name of the qualified disaster that prompted the distribution and all Forms 1099-R that you received from your retirement plan administrators.

A decision you must make is how to treat the distribution for tax purposes. You have the option to include the entire amount of the distribution in your income for the tax year you received it, or you can spread the income ratably over a three-year period. Spreading the income can lessen the tax impact in a single year, potentially keeping you in a lower tax bracket.

Once you have your information and have made your decision on tax treatment, you can complete the form, which is available on the IRS website. In Part I, you will enter the name and date of the disaster. Part II is where you will report the total amount of your qualified disaster distributions from Box 1 of your Form 1099-R. If you have made any repayments, you will report those in the designated section.

Filing Form 8915-F with Your Tax Return

After you have completed Form 8915-F, the next step is to file it with your annual income tax return. This form is not submitted to the IRS by itself; it must be attached to your main tax form, such as Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040-SR, or Form 1040-NR. The information on Form 8915-F supports the figures you report on your main return.

The calculations from Form 8915-F directly impact the figures on your Form 1040. The taxable portion of your disaster distribution, as determined on Form 8915-F, is carried over to the appropriate line on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), Additional Income and Adjustments to Income. This ensures that the income is properly recorded and taxed.

If you are using an e-filing tax software, the program will handle the attachment of Form 8915-F automatically. For those who file by mail, place the completed Form 8915-F directly behind your Form 1040 in the stack of documents you send to the IRS.