U.S. Individual Income Tax Return Forms

2019

Instructions for Form 8915-B

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Qualified 2017 Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code
unless otherwise noted.

General Instructions
Future Developments

For the latest information about
developments related to Form 8915-B and
its instructions, such as legislation enacted
after they were published, go to IRS.gov/
Form8915B.

What’s New
Hyphens added to form numbers.
Beginning in 2019, hyphens have been
added to certain form numbers. Form 8915B
is now Form 8915-B. Forms 8915A,
1040NR, and 1040X are now Forms 8915-A,
1040-NR, and 1040-X, respectively.

Purpose of Form

Use 2019 Form 8915-B if you were
adversely affected by a 2017 disaster listed
in What 2017 Disasters Are Covered, later,
and you received a distribution that qualifies
for favorable tax treatment. For distributions
for qualified 2016 disasters, see Form
8915-A and its instructions.
Qualified 2017 disaster distributions can't
be made in 2019. Only repayments of
qualified 2017 disaster distributions can be
made in 2019.
Note. Repayments of distributions from
retirement plans (other than IRAs) are
reported in Part I, and repayments of
distributions from IRAs are reported in Part II.

Who Must File

File 2019 Form 8915-B if either of the
following applies.
• You received a qualified 2017 disaster
distribution in 2017 or 2018 that you are
including in income in equal amounts over 3
years.
• You made a repayment of a qualified
2017 disaster distribution in 2019.

When and Where To File

File 2019 Form 8915-B with your 2019 Form
1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR. If you are not
required to file an income tax return but are
required to file 2019 Form 8915-B, sign Form
8915-B and send it to the IRS at the same
time and place you would otherwise file 2019
Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR.
The timing of your repayments will
determine whether you need to file an
amended return to claim them. See
Amending Form 8915-B, later.

Dec 16, 2019

Qualified 2017 Disaster
Distribution
What 2017 Disasters Are
Covered?

In order to have a qualified 2017 disaster
distribution, you must have been adversely
affected by:
• Hurricane Harvey (which includes
Tropical Storm Harvey),
• Hurricane Irma,
• Hurricane Maria, or
• The California wildfires.

How Is a Qualified 2017
Disaster Distribution Taxed?

Generally, a qualified 2017 disaster
distribution is included in your income in
equal amounts over 3 years. However, if you
elected, you could have included the entire
distribution in your income in the year of the
distribution. If you received more than one
distribution during 2017 or 2018, you must
have treated all the distributions for that year
the same way. Any repayments made before
you file your 2019 return and by the due date
(including extensions) reduce the amount of
the distribution included in your income.
Qualified 2017 disaster distributions aren’t
subject to the additional 10% tax (or the 25%
additional tax for certain distributions from
SIMPLE IRAs) on early distributions.
If a taxpayer who received a
qualified 2017 disaster distribution
CAUTION dies in 2019, the distribution may no
longer be spread over 3 years. The
remainder of the distribution must be
reported on the return of the deceased
taxpayer.

!

Repayment of a Qualified 2017
Disaster Distribution

If you choose, you can generally repay to an
eligible retirement plan any portion of a
qualified 2017 disaster distribution that is
eligible for tax-free rollover treatment. Also,
you can repay a qualified 2017 disaster
distribution from a retirement plan made on
account of hardship. However, see
Exceptions below for qualified 2017 disaster
distributions you can’t repay.
You have 3 years from the day after the
date you received the distribution to make a
repayment. The amount of your repayment
cannot be more than the amount of the
original distribution. Amounts that are repaid
are treated as a trustee-to-trustee transfer
and are not included in income. Also, for
purposes of the one-rollover-per-year
limitation for IRAs, a repayment to an IRA is
not considered a rollover.
Cat. No. 71194R

Include on 2019 Form 8915-B any
repayments you make before filing your 2019
return. Any repayments you make will reduce
the amount of qualified 2017 disaster
distributions reported on your return for
2019. Do not include on your 2019 Form
8915-B any repayments you make later than
the due date (including extensions) for filing
your 2019 return. If you make a repayment in
2020 after you file your 2019 return, the
repayment will reduce the amount of your
qualified 2017 disaster distributions included
in income on your 2020 return (if any), unless
you are eligible to amend your 2017, 2018,
or 2019 return. See Amending Form 8915-B,
later. Also, any excess repayments you
make for 2019 will be carried forward to your
2020 return (if you are repaying a distribution
reported on your 2018 Form 8915B, Part I) or
back to your 2017 or 2018 return.
Exceptions. You cannot repay the
following types of distributions.
1. Qualified 2017 disaster distributions
received as a beneficiary (other than a
surviving spouse).
2. Required minimum distributions.
3. Any distribution (other than from an
IRA) that is one of a series of substantially
equal periodic payments made (at least
annually) for:
a. A period of 10 years or more,
b. Your life or life expectancy, or
c. The joint lives or joint life
expectancies of you and your beneficiary.

Amending Form 8915-B

Depending on when a repayment is made,
you may need to file an amended tax return
to refigure your taxable income.
If you make a repayment after timely filing
your 2019 tax return but by the due date of
your 2019 return (including extensions),
include the repayment on your amended
2019 Form 8915-B.

If you make a repayment after the due
date of your 2019 return (including
extensions) but before the due date of your
2020 return (including extensions), include
the repayment on your 2020 Form 8915-B.
However, you may file an amended 2017 or
2018 Form 8915B or an amended 2019
Form 8915-B, if either of the following
applies.
• You elected to include all of your qualified
2017 disaster distributions in income
(instead of over 3 years) on your original
2017 or 2018 return.
• The amount of the repayment exceeds
the amount of your qualified 2017 disaster
distributions that are included in income for

2020 and you choose to carry the excess
back to your 2017, 2018, or 2019 tax return.
See the example below.
Example. You received a qualified 2017
disaster distribution in the amount of $90,000
on October 16, 2018. You choose to spread
the $90,000 over 3 years ($30,000 in income
for 2018, 2019, and 2020). On November 19,
2019, you make a repayment of $40,000. For
2019, none of the qualified 2017 disaster
distribution is included in income. The
excess repayment of $10,000 ($40,000 $30,000) can be carried back to 2018. Also,
instead of carrying the excess repayment
back to 2018, you can choose to carry it
forward to 2020.
File Form 1040-X, Amended U.S.
Individual Income Tax Return, to amend a
return you have already filed. Generally,
Form 1040-X must be filed within 3 years
after the date the original return was filed, or
within 2 years after the date the tax was paid,
whichever is later.

Specific Instructions
Married filers. If both you and your spouse
are required to file Form 8915-B, file a
separate Form 8915-B for each of you.
Name and social security number
(SSN). If you file a joint return, enter only the
name and SSN of the spouse whose
information is being reported on the 2019
Form 8915-B.
Foreign address. If you have a foreign
address, enter the city name on the
appropriate line. Do not enter any other
information on that line, but also complete
the spaces below that line. Do not abbreviate
the country name. Follow the country's
practice for entering the postal code and the
name of the province, county, or state.
Write at the top of page 1. Write the
following at the top of page 1 of Form 8915-B
if your qualified 2017 distributions relate to:
• Hurricane Harvey, Irma, or Maria:
“Hurricane”;
• The California wildfires: “Wildfires”; or
• Both Hurricane Harvey, Irma, or Maria
and the California wildfires: “Hurricane and
Wildfires.”

Part I—Qualified 2017
Disaster Distributions
From Retirement Plans
(Other Than IRAs)

Complete Part I if any of the following apply.
• You had an amount on your 2017 Form
8915B, line 9, and you did not check the box
on that line.
• You had an amount on your 2018 Form
8915B, line 11, and you did not check the
box on that line.
• You made a repayment in 2019 of
qualified 2017 disaster distribution amounts
from line 10 of 2018 Form 8915B; or line 8 of
2017 Form 8915B.

Line 7. At any time during the 3-year period
beginning 1 day after the date you received a
qualified 2017 disaster distribution, you can
repay any portion of the distribution to an
eligible retirement plan that is permitted to
accept rollover contributions. You cannot,
however, repay more than the amount of the
original distribution. See Repayment of a
Qualified 2017 Disaster Distribution, earlier,
for details.
Enter on line 7 the amount of any
repayments you made before filing your
2019 return. Do not include any repayments
made later than the due date (including
extensions) for that return nor any
repayments of nontaxable amounts. If you
repaid more than the amount on line 3
(including any excess repayments from 2018
on line 6), the excess will be carried forward
to your 2020 tax return (if you are repaying a
distribution reported on your 2018 Form
8915B, Part I). Repayments made after the
due date of your 2018 return (including
extensions) but before the due date of your
2019 return (including extensions) generally
will be reported on your 2019 tax return.
Repayments made after the due date of your
2019 return (including extensions) but before
the due date of your 2020 return (including
extensions) generally will be reported on
your 2020 tax return. However, you may
have to file an amended return in certain
situations. See Amending Form 8915-B,
earlier.
Example. You received a $90,000
qualified 2017 disaster distribution on
November 7, 2018, from your 401(k) plan.
You had an economic loss due to Hurricane
Maria. On April 2, 2020, you repay $30,000
to your 401(k) plan. You file your return on
April 10, 2020. Since the repayment was
made before you filed your 2019 return, and
not later than the due date (including
extensions), you would enter the $30,000
repayment on line 7.

Part II—Qualified 2017
Disaster Distributions
From Traditional, SEP,
SIMPLE, and Roth IRAs

Complete Part II if any of the following apply.
• You had an amount on your 2017 Form
8915B, line 17, and you did not check the
box on that line.
• You had an amount on your 2018 Form
8915B, line 26, and you did not check the
box on that line.
• You made a repayment in 2019 of
qualified 2017 disaster distribution amounts
from line 25 of 2018 Form 8915B; or line 16
of 2017 Form 8915B.
Line 16. At any time during the 3-year
period beginning 1 day after the date you
received a qualified 2017 disaster
distribution, you can repay any portion of the
distribution to an eligible retirement plan that
is permitted to accept rollover contributions.
You cannot, however, repay more than the
amount of the original distribution. See

-2-

Repayment of a Qualified 2017 Disaster
Distribution, earlier, for details.
Enter on line 16 the amount of any
repayments you made before filing your
2019 return. Do not include any repayments
made later than the due date (including
extensions) for that return nor any
repayments of nontaxable amounts. If you
repaid more than the amount on line 12
(including any excess repayments from 2018
on line 15), the excess will be carried forward
to your 2020 tax return (if you are repaying a
distribution reported on your 2018 Form
8915B, Part I). Repayments made after the
due date of your 2018 return (including
extensions) but before the due date of your
2019 return (including extensions) generally
will be reported on your 2019 tax return.
Repayments made after the due date of your
2019 return (including extensions) but before
the due date of your 2020 return (including
extensions) generally will be reported on
your 2020 tax return. However, you may
have to file an amended return in certain
situations. See Amending Form 8915-B,
earlier.
Example. You received a $60,000
qualified 2017 disaster distribution on
October 2, 2018, from your traditional IRA.
You had an economic loss due to Hurricane
Harvey. On April 2, 2020, you repay $30,000
to your traditional IRA. You file your return on
April 10, 2020. Since the repayment was
made before you filed your 2019 return, and
not later than the due date (including
extensions), you would enter the $30,000
repayment on line 16.
If, in 2019, you made a repayment of
a qualified 2017 disaster distribution
CAUTION that you opted to claim on Part III of
2017 Form 8915A, Qualified 2016 Disaster
Retirement Plan Distributions and
Repayments, any repayments of that
distribution in 2019 must be claimed on 2019
Form 8915-A, Part II. They can't be claimed
on 2019 Form 8915-B.

!

Example. In 2017, you reported qualified
2016 disaster distributions on 2017 Form
8915A and qualified 2017 disaster
distributions on 2017 Form 8915B. You
elected to spread the repayments over 3
years on both forms. You had to complete
2017 Form 8606; you chose to enter the
amounts from 2017 Form 8606, lines 15b
and 25b, on 2017 Form 8915A, lines 22 and
23; and you entered -0- on 2017 Form
8915B, lines 13 and 14. You make a
repayment of those qualified 2017 disaster
distributions in November 2019. That
repayment should be entered on your 2019
Form 8915-A, line 12, and not on 2019 Form
8915-B.
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required to give us this information if you

Instructions for Form 8915-B (2019)

made certain contributions or received
certain distributions from qualified plans,
including IRAs, and other tax-favored
accounts. Our legal right to ask for the
information requested on this form is
sections 6001, 6011, 6012(a), and 6109 and
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Instructions for Form 8915-B (2019)

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