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Petitioner also asserts that he used a portion of the
distributions to pay higher education expenses for his daughter.
Section 72(t)(2)(E) provides that the additional tax on early
distributions does not apply to “Distributions to an individual
from an individual retirement plan to the extent such
distributions do not exceed the qualified higher education
expenses * * * of the taxpayer for the taxable year.” (Emphasis
added.) An “individual retirement plan” is defined as: “(A) an
individual retirement account described in section 408(a), and
(B) an individual retirement annuity described in section
408(b).” Sec. 7701(a)(37). An individual retirement plan is
commonly referred to as an IRA.
Section 72(t)(2)(E) was added by section 203(a) of the
Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, Pub. L. 105-34, 111 Stat. 809. The
report of the Committee on the Budget refers only to withdrawals
from IRAs. See H. Conf. Rept. 105-148, at 288-289 (1997), 1997-4
C.B. (Vol. 1) 319, 610-611. It is undisputed that the retirement
plan from which petitioner withdrew the $68,583 is a plan
described in section 401(k), and, therefore, the exception
contained in section 71(t)(2)(E) does not apply.
Finally, petitioner contends that, because of financial
hardship, the $68,583 should not be subject to the 10-percent
additional tax imposed by section 72(t). There is, however, no
hardship exception in the controlling statute, section 72(t).
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