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Question: In 2020, a married couple filed a joint return (noncommunity property state). Included in the return was a coronavirus-related distribution from the husband’s §401(k) account reported on Form 8915-E, Qualified 2020 Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments. The income was spread over three years and the proper withholding was reported. As a result, a significant refund was generated. There is no withholding for the subsequent two years. In 2021 the couple divorced. Because the original return with the one-third distribution was reported on a joint return, does the wife, who is not the owner of the §401(k), have reporting requirements or a tax liability for the two remaining reportable distributions?

Answer: No. Form 8915-F is individual to the account owner. Each spouse is required to file their own Form 8915-F. There is no joint form. The instructions for the form specifically state, married filers. If both taxpayers are required to file Form 8915-F, file a separate Form 8915-F for each spouse. If the taxpayers are each filing a Form 8915-F, the $100,000 limit on qualified disaster distributions and the election to include all qualified disaster distributions in income (and not spread them over three years) are determined separately for each spouse. Therefore, because the distribution was not hers, she will not file Form 8915-F for 2021.