What tax form will I receive after cashing out my 401k post-termination? Also need form for paycheck donations

The form you're looking for regarding your cashed-out 401k is called a 1099-R. Your previous employer's plan administrator (typically the financial institution that managed the 401k) should mail this to you by January 31st. It shows the total distribution amount and any taxes that were already withheld. You don't need to request it - they're required to send it automatically. For your charitable donations through payroll deduction, these will typically be reflected on your W-2. Look at Box 1 (Wages, tips, other compensation) - this amount should already be reduced by your charitable contributions. Your final pay stub of the year should also show your total charitable contributions for the year. Some employers also provide a separate statement detailing your charitable giving for the year, but this isn't required by tax law.

After going through a similar situation last year, I want to recommend checking out https://taxr.ai for help with your 401k distribution tax situation. I got super confused with all the forms and potential penalties when I cashed out my retirement account after leaving my job. The site analyzed my 1099-R form and explained exactly what I needed to know about the tax implications, including the early withdrawal penalty (which I wasn't expecting!). The tool showed me that I had options for reporting the distribution that could potentially reduce my tax burden. It also caught that my withholding wasn't enough to cover what I'd ultimately owe, which helped me avoid a surprise tax bill.

I was super skeptical about using https://taxr.ai as mentioned above, but I finally gave it a try after struggling with my own 401k distribution issues. I'm honestly shocked at how helpful it was! The document scanning feature worked perfectly with my crumpled 1099-R form, and it immediately flagged that I qualified for an exception to the early withdrawal penalty because of my medical expenses last year. The system explained exactly how to report everything on my tax return and identified that I could spread some of the tax burden over three years (which my tax software completely missed). It saved me over $2,300 in taxes I would have overpaid. Wish I'd found it before spending hours researching on various tax forums!

If you're having trouble getting your 1099-R or have questions about how your distribution was handled, you might need to contact the IRS directly. I spent WEEKS trying to get through to them about a similar issue last year. After 20+ failed attempts calling the regular number and waiting on hold for hours, I finally used https://claimyr.com and it was a game-changer. The service basically holds your place in the IRS phone queue and calls you when an agent is actually available to talk. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. I was super skeptical but desperate after my 401k provider and previous employer kept giving me conflicting information about my distribution and tax withholding.

If you're having trouble getting your 1099-R or have questions about how your distribution was handled,

I'm eating crow right now. After posting that skeptical comment about Claimyr, I actually tried it yesterday out of desperation. I'd been trying for THREE WEEKS to get through to the IRS about my misreported 401k distribution. The service actually worked exactly as advertised. I got a call back in about 2 hours telling me an IRS agent was on the line. The agent was able to confirm that my 1099-R had indeed been filed by my plan administrator and explained exactly how to report it correctly with my specific circumstances. She even helped me understand which exceptions might apply to my early withdrawal. Would have taken me months to get this resolved otherwise. Sometimes being proven wrong is the best outcome!

Just want to add that if you're under 59½ when you cashed out your 401k, you'll likely owe an additional 10% early withdrawal penalty on top of regular income tax, unless you qualify for an exception. Make sure to check if any exceptions apply to your situation, such as: - Medical expenses exceeding 7.5% of your AGI - Permanent disability - IRS levy - Qualified reservist distribution - First-time home purchase (up to $10,000) - Certain educational expenses - Birth or adoption expenses (up to $5,000

For the charitable donation part, just a heads up - if the donation is coming out pre-tax through a payroll deduction, your W-2 will already reflect the reduced income (Box 1 will show your income after the donation was taken out). In this case, you DON'T separately claim these donations as charitable contributions on Schedule A since you already got the tax benefit. However, if they're taking the donation after taxes, then your full income shows on the W-2, and you would need to itemize deductions (Schedule A) to claim the charitable contribution. Most company-sponsored giving programs are pre-tax though.

Just want to emphasize something important about timing - since you cashed out your 401k in 2023, you should have already received your 1099-R by January 31st, 2024 for that tax year. If you're referring to the upcoming 2025 tax season for your 2024 returns, that would be a different situation. If you haven't filed your 2023 taxes yet and are missing the 1099-R from your 2023 distribution, you definitely need to contact Fidelity (or whoever your plan administrator was) immediately. You can usually log into their website and download a copy even if your account is closed. Don't file without it - the IRS gets a copy too and will notice if you don't report the distribution. Also worth noting that if you had federal taxes withheld from your distribution (which is common), that withholding will show up on your 1099-R and can be applied toward your total tax liability for the year, similar to how W-2 withholdings work.