Help for Louisiana Storm Victims

Posted on by FEW Web Team

tspHelp for Louisiana storm victims — (September 2, 2016) The TSP has made a temporary change to the financial hardship withdrawal rules for participants affected by the recent storms in Louisiana: As of September 2, 2016, we will treat any Financial Hardship In-Service Withdrawal Request as a qualifying hardship and will waive the rule prohibiting employee contributions for 6 months after taking a hardship withdrawal provided one of the following is true:

  • Your primary residence or place of employment is located in a covered disaster area and has incurred a loss as a result of the recent Louisiana storms. OR
  • Your hardship withdrawal will be used to assist an eligible family member who lives or works in a covered disaster area and who has incurred a loss as a result of the recent Louisiana storms.

IN ADDITION, you must also meet all of the following requirements:

  • You must be actively employed as a federal civilian or a member of the uniformed services.
  • You must complete Form TSP-76, pdf_1 Financial Hardship In-Service Withdrawal Request.
  • You must write “Louisiana Storms” at the top of page 1 above the name of the form.
  • You must check the “Personal Casualty Loss” box on page 2, Item 18 of your request form, as the reason for requesting financial hardship.
  • Your request must be received in our office by January 10, 2017 and, in compliance with IRS guidelines, your distribution must occur before January 17, 2017. Any Financial Hardship In-Service Withdrawal Request forms received after January 10, 2017 will be processed as a standard hardship withdrawal, and your TSP contributions will automatically stop for 6 months.

If you want to stop your TSP contributions, complete Form TSP-1, pdf_1 Election Form (Form TSP-U-1 pdf_1 for uniformed services) or use your agency or service’s automated system.

This rule change is not retroactive and all other Form TSP-76 rules apply. Participants may only receive one hardship withdrawal under this change. If you have questions about this change, call the toll-free ThriftLine at 1-TSP-YOU-FRST (1-877-968-3778). Outside the U.S. and Canada, please call 404-233-4400 (not toll free).

To read more, visit the TSP site at https://www.tsp.gov/whatsnew/Content/index.html#louisiana.