How to Fill Out and Submit Form TSP-70: Taxes, Consent, and Penalties

Form TSP-70 no longer exists as a submittable document. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board retired the paper Request for Full Withdrawal, and separated federal employees and uniformed service members now request all post-separation distributions online through the My Account portal at tsp.gov.¹ Everything the TSP-70 used to handle — choosing a payout method, designating a rollover, obtaining spousal consent — runs through that digital workflow. If you need help walking through it, the ThriftLine at 1-877-968-3778 is staffed for withdrawal questions.

When You Can Actually Request a Withdrawal

You can request a post-separation withdrawal only after your agency or service branch reports your separation to the TSP’s record keeper. Until that report is processed, the withdrawal tools stay locked in My Account even if your last day at work has passed.² If you expect to be rehired within 31 calendar days, you are not eligible for a post-separation withdrawal during that window.³

Active federal employees still on the payroll cannot take a full withdrawal at all. In-service options are limited to hardship withdrawals, age-based withdrawals, and TSP loans, and none of them liquidate the entire account.¹

One small-balance rule to know: if your vested balance is under $200 when your agency reports your separation, the TSP automatically mails you a check for the remainder without any request from you.³ Balances of $200 or more can stay in the plan indefinitely.

What Replaced the Old Full Withdrawal

If you came looking for the TSP-70 because you wanted to empty the account in one payment, that option still exists. It’s just one selection inside a broader menu of four distribution methods, and you can combine them however you like:¹

Total distribution — a single payment of your entire account balance. This is the direct equivalent of what the TSP-70 was designed for.
Partial distribution — a one-time withdrawal of a specific dollar amount ($1,000 minimum) while the rest stays invested. You can take multiple partials over time.
Installment payments — recurring payments on a monthly, quarterly, or annual schedule, either as a fixed dollar amount ($25 minimum per payment) or a life-expectancy calculation. You can start, stop, or change installments at any time.
Life annuity purchase — the TSP uses your balance, or part of it, to buy a lifetime annuity through MetLife, the plan’s current outside vendor. The minimum purchase is $3,500, applied separately to your traditional and Roth balances.⁴

The old paper system was much more rigid: one shot at a full withdrawal, one shot at a partial. If you’re still thinking in TSP-70 terms, the current setup gives you real flexibility. A common pattern is a partial distribution to cover an immediate expense, quarterly installments for ongoing income, and the remainder left invested.

What to Have Ready Before You Log In

The online session can time out. Gather these first:

Your TSP account number or Social Security number, plus your My Account login credentials with multi-factor authentication already set up.
Bank account and routing numbers for a checking or savings account that accepts ACH transfers. This is where the money goes if you’re not rolling it over.
Rollover destination details if you’re transferring funds to an IRA or another employer’s retirement plan: the receiving institution’s name, address, and account number. Verify in advance that the institution accepts the type of funds you’re sending (traditional, Roth, or both).
A tax withholding decision. The TSP must withhold 20% of the taxable portion of any eligible rollover distribution paid directly to you. You can elect more, but not less. A direct rollover to an IRA or eligible plan avoids the 20% withholding entirely.⁵

Spousal Consent

Federal law requires that a married participant’s spouse consent to most withdrawals. Under 5 U.S.C. § 8435, you and your spouse must jointly waive any survivor annuity rights before the TSP will process the distribution.⁶ Inside the online process, the TSP sends a notification to your spouse’s email address for electronic verification, and your request will not process until that consent clears.

If your spouse cannot be located or exceptional circumstances make obtaining consent inappropriate, you can request Form TSP-16 (Spousal Consent Exception Notice) through My Account or the ThriftLine.⁷ Exceptions are rarely granted. Spousal rights apply only when your account balance exceeds $3,500 at the time of disbursement.³

Outstanding TSP Loans

If you separated with an unpaid TSP loan balance, you have 90 days from your reported separation date to keep making payments on your own. If you don’t, the outstanding balance is declared a taxable distribution: the TSP forecloses the loan and reports the amount to the IRS as income.² Resolve the loan first so you know exactly how much is actually available to withdraw.

Submitting the Request Online

Log in to My Account at tsp.gov using your credentials and multi-factor authentication. Go to the “Withdrawals and Rollovers Out” section. The system walks you through a guided process where you pick your distribution type, enter banking or rollover information, and set your tax withholding.¹

If you’re setting up installments, use the “Model Installments” tool first. It lets you test different payment amounts and frequencies without committing, and you can submit the request directly from that tool once the numbers look right.

Married participants trigger the spousal notification on submission, and the request holds until consent clears. When everything is finalized, a confirmation appears in your secure message center.

The TSP processes withdrawal requests each business day. Requests entered before noon Eastern time are processed that same night; requests after noon go through the following business night.¹ Disbursement follows shortly after. That’s much faster than the old paper cycle, where mailing the TSP-70 and waiting for manual review could take weeks. Check your account’s transaction history for real-time status.

Taxes on a Full Withdrawal

How your withdrawal is taxed depends on whether the money sits in your traditional balance, your Roth balance, or both.

Distributions from your traditional TSP balance are taxed as ordinary income in the year you receive them, both your original contributions and the investment earnings.⁸ A large lump-sum distribution can push you into a higher tax bracket for that single year, which is one reason many separated participants split the account across multiple tax years using installments or partials instead of taking it all at once.

Roth TSP contributions come out tax-free because you already paid the tax going in. The earnings on your Roth contributions are also tax-free if the withdrawal is “qualified”: at least five years must have passed since January 1 of the year you made your first Roth TSP contribution, and you must be at least 59½, permanently disabled, or deceased.⁸ If either condition isn’t met, the earnings portion is taxable.

The 20% Withholding on Direct Payments

When the TSP pays an eligible rollover distribution directly to you rather than sending it to another retirement account, it withholds 20% of the taxable portion for federal income tax. You cannot opt out of that 20% floor. If you intended to roll over the full amount but took the check with 20% already withheld, you would have to make up that missing 20% from your own funds within 60 days to complete the rollover and avoid tax on the withheld portion. A direct rollover, where the TSP sends the money straight to your IRA or new employer plan, avoids the 20% withholding entirely.⁵

Most states also tax TSP distributions as ordinary income, though some exempt federal retirement pay in full or in part. Check your state’s rules before pulling a large amount.

Early Withdrawal Penalty and Exceptions

If you take a TSP distribution before age 59½, the IRS generally charges an additional 10% early withdrawal penalty on the taxable portion, on top of ordinary income tax.⁹ Several exceptions apply:

Separation at age 55 or older. If you separate from federal service during or after the calendar year you turn 55, the 10% penalty does not apply to TSP withdrawals. This is the most commonly used exception.¹⁰
Public safety officers at age 50. Federal law enforcement officers, firefighters, customs and border protection officers, and air traffic controllers qualify for the exception at age 50. This applies only to withdrawals taken directly from the TSP; transferring to an IRA first forfeits it.⁹
Total and permanent disability of the participant.
Distributions to beneficiaries after the participant’s death.
Substantially equal periodic payments calculated using an IRS-approved method and taken at least annually.
Birth or adoption expenses, up to $5,000 per child.
Payments to an alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order.
Distributions after a physician certifies a terminal illness.
Up to $22,000 for individuals with economic loss from a federally declared disaster.

One trap worth flagging: the age-55 exception (or age 50 for public safety officers) only works if you withdraw directly from the TSP. Roll the money into an IRA first and then withdraw, and the exception disappears, with the standard 59½ threshold taking over.

1
Thrift Savings Plan. Withdrawals in Retirement
2
Thrift Savings Plan. Effect of Nonpay Status on Your TSP Account
3
Thrift Savings Plan. Form TSP-70 Request for Full Withdrawal
4
Thrift Savings Plan. TSP Annuity Calculator
5
Thrift Savings Plan. Tax Rules About TSP Payments
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S. Code 8435 – Protections for Spouses and Former Spouses
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Thrift Savings Plan. Marriage and Spouse’s Rights
8
Thrift Savings Plan. Traditional and Roth TSP Contributions
9
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions
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Thrift Savings Plan. Information for TSP Participants Leaving Federal Employment