What is a qualified disaster recovery distribution?

Who qualifies

Publication 590-B (2025), chapter 3, defines a qualified disaster as any major disaster declared by the President under section 401 of the Stafford Act after December 27, 2020, and a qualified disaster area as the area covered by that declaration. A distribution is a qualified disaster recovery distribution if it meets three tests. It is made on or after the first day of the incident period (the period FEMA specifies) and before the date 180 days after the applicable date. It is made to someone whose principal place of abode at any time during the incident period was in the disaster area. And that person sustained an economic loss because of the disaster. The applicable date is the latest of December 29, 2022, the first date of the incident period, or the declaration date.

No need test

The publication says qualified disaster recovery distributions are permitted without regard to your need or the actual amount of your economic loss. Examples of economic loss include damage to or destruction of real or personal property, loss from displacement from your home, and loss of livelihood from layoffs. Your main home is the home where you live most of the time, and a temporary absence such as an evacuation does not change it.

The $22,000 limit

The total of your qualified disaster recovery distributions from all plans is limited to $22,000 per disaster. If you take distributions from more than one type of plan, such as a 401(k) and an IRA, you can allocate the $22,000 among them by any reasonable method. Plans that count include qualified plans, the Thrift Savings Plan, tax-sheltered annuities, governmental 457 plans, and traditional, SEP, SIMPLE and Roth IRAs. The publication’s example: you receive $16,000 in 2021 and $10,000 in 2022 for the same disaster. If you treat the full $16,000 as qualified, only $6,000 of the second distribution can be. Any amount above $22,000 may be subject to the 10% additional tax.

How the income is taxed

The distribution is taxable, but the 10% additional tax does not apply (nor the 25% tax on certain SIMPLE IRA distributions). The income is included equally over 3 years. Your publication example: an $18,000 distribution received in 2021 means $6,000 of income in each of 2021, 2022 and 2023. You may elect to include everything in the year received instead. A qualified disaster recovery distribution also does not count as a change in a series of substantially equal periodic payments. Use the calculator above to see the yearly income for your amount, with the limit applied.

Repaying the money

You have 3 years from the day after you received the distribution to repay all or part to an eligible retirement plan. The repayment cannot exceed the original distribution, is treated as a trustee-to-trustee transfer and is not included in income, and a repayment to an IRA does not count against the one-rollover-per-year limit. If you elected the one-year method and repay later, the repayment reduces the income for the year of distribution, and if it comes after the return due date you file an amended return with a revised Form 8915-F. Under the 3-year method, a repayment before filing reduces that year’s portion, a later one reduces the next year’s portion, and an excess repayment can be carried forward or back. Not repayable: distributions received as a beneficiary (other than a surviving spouse), required minimum distributions, and certain long-term periodic payments other than from an IRA.

Worked example

Maria receives $19,000 on February 15 and repays all of it on September 10, after an insurance reimbursement. She reports both on Form 8915-F with her timely return, and none of the distribution is in her income. Separately, John receives $18,000 on November 15, spreads it at $6,000 a year over three returns, and repays $9,000 the next November. He reports $0 in the second year and either carries the $3,000 excess repayment forward to reduce the third year to $3,000, or amends the first year. The calculator above lets you try your numbers with a repayment.

Related help

For a similar rule on employer pensions see Pub. 575, which this site covers separately; for the 10% tax generally see exceptions to the IRA early withdrawal penalty. FEMA declarations and IRS disaster relief news pages show which events qualify. Confirm your disaster, your incident period and the 180-day end date before you take a distribution.

Sources

• IRS Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (2025): 3. Disaster-Related Relief; Qualified Disaster Recovery Distributions; Distribution limit; Taxation; Repayment; Recontribution for a main home purchase. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 590-B (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits and dates in this publication are for 2025; check the current publication and form instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.