Self-Certification for SECURE Act 2.0 Hardship Withdrawal Expansions

The SECURE Act 2.0 significantly expanded the options for taking penalty-free withdrawals from tax-preferred retirement accounts. These provisions are largely optional. Employers who are considering adopting them may be evaluating their own obligation if they choose to adopt the provisions. Some of the provisions allow employers to rely upon participant self-certifications. Employers are permitted to rely upon self-certification with respect to the distributions for domestic violence, emergency personal expenses, unforeseeable emergencies and disaster distributions. Employers cannot rely on self-certification alone for long-term care distributions and terminal illness distributions. For more information on the rules governing retirement account distributions that are exempt from the 10% early distribution penalty, visit Tax Facts Online. Read More: Link to Q3798.