401k hardship withdrawal for first home purchase - no 1099-R form showing on Vanguard account. Is this the right tax form I need?

Yes, a hardship withdrawal is absolutely considered a distribution for tax purposes, and you should receive a 1099-R for it. The 401k withdrawal for a first-time home purchase is still reportable income, even though there are some special rules that might apply. Since it's still relatively early in the year, I'd recommend a couple of things: First, contact Vanguard directly through their customer service. Sometimes there can be delays in processing or technical issues with their online portal. Second, check with your employer's benefits department as they might have information about when you can expect tax forms. If you already had taxes withheld at the time of withdrawal, that's good news! Those withholdings will be reported on the 1099-R when you receive it and will count toward your total tax payments for the year. But you definitely need that form to properly report the distribution.

After dealing with a similar situation last year, I found that using https://taxr.ai really helped me sort through my missing 401k distribution forms. I had taken money from my Fidelity account but the 1099-R wasn't showing up online even though the deadline had passed. I uploaded my account statements to taxr.ai and they helped identify exactly what was missing and what I needed to report. They confirmed that my hardship withdrawal absolutely needed a 1099-R and helped me track down the right people to contact. The system even extracted the right distribution codes from my account activity that I needed when I called the provider. Their document analysis saved me hours of frustration and prevented what could have been a major tax filing mistake. Might be worth checking out while you wait for Vanguard to sort things out.

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after seeing this thread and it was super helpful! I uploaded my Prudential statements and account activity, and the system immediately identified that I was missing a 1099-R for a hardship loan repayment that was treated as a distribution. I didn't even realize that counted as a distribution that needed reporting! When I called Prudential with the specific transaction date and code information from taxr.ai's analysis, they were able to immediately locate the issue. Turns out they had sent the 1099-R to my old address even though I'd updated my contact info for everything else. They're resending it now and also made the electronic version available. Would have been waiting forever not knowing exactly what to ask for. Definitely recommended if you're missing tax documents!

If you're still having trouble getting your 1099-R from Vanguard after calling them, I had a similar issue last year trying to reach my 401k provider. After being on hold for hours and getting nowhere, I used https://claimyr.com to get through to an actual human at the company. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They basically hold your place in the phone queue and call you when a real person answers. I was skeptical, but it got me through to Vanguard in about 40 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. The rep I spoke with was able to manually process my 1099-R request and explained there was a glitch in their system for certain types of hardship withdrawals. Sometimes you just need to talk to an actual human to get these tax document issues resolved, and waiting on hold for hours isn't an option for most of us with jobs.

I have to eat my words and admit when I'm wrong. After three days of trying to get through to my 401k provider about my missing 1099-R (ironically also Vanguard), I broke down and tried Claimyr from the link above. Within 35 minutes I had a callback and was talking to a Vanguard representative who explained that hardship withdrawals for home purchases have a special coding in their system. In my case, they weren't automatically generating the 1099-R because it was flagged for manual review to ensure the first-time homebuyer exception was properly noted. The rep immediately initiated the process to generate my form. I wasted so much time trying to do this myself, and the service actually worked. Sometimes it's worth trying something new when the traditional approach isn't working. I'll have my 1099-R within 48 hours now.

Just to add some additional insight - I work in HR and deal with this stuff regularly. A hardship withdrawal is 100% considered a distribution and requires a 1099-R. However, some plan administrators have different timelines for generating these forms. Some important things to know: 1. The official deadline for sending 1099-Rs is January 31st, so Vanguard still has time to get it to you 2. The first $10,000 for a first-time home purchase is exempt from the 10% early withdrawal penalty, but you'll still pay regular income tax on the full amount 3. If your withdrawal exceeded $10,000, the excess would be subject to the 10% penalty unless another exception applies 4. Even if you had taxes withheld, they often only withhold 20%, which might not cover your full tax liability I'd definitely call Vanguard directly, but don't panic yet. This early in the year, they might still be processing forms.

Has anyone else had issues with Vanguard's online system showing incorrect information about tax forms? I withdrew from my 401k last year too (different reason) and initially got the same message about no forms being available. When I called, they said the form was actually generated but just not showing online for some reason.

I went through something very similar with my Vanguard 401k hardship withdrawal last year. The key thing to understand is that their online portal can be unreliable for displaying certain types of distributions, especially hardship withdrawals. When I called Vanguard directly, I learned that hardship withdrawals sometimes get flagged for manual processing to ensure the proper exception codes are applied. In your case, since you used it for a first-time home purchase, they need to verify this qualifies for the penalty exception on the first $10,000. Here's what I'd recommend: Call Vanguard's retirement services line and specifically ask about "hardship distribution tax reporting" rather than just asking about a 1099-R. Have your withdrawal date, amount, and reason ready. They should be able to tell you the status of your form generation and can often expedite it if there's been a delay. Also, keep in mind that even though you'll avoid the 10% penalty on the first $10,000, you'll still owe regular income tax on the full $28,000. The withholding they took might not cover your entire tax liability, so be prepared for that when you file.