I could not figure this out and I had several people tell me he owed the $17K but basically what we had to do was allocate half to the wife actually ex wife as of 12/3 and that cut his amount owed in half. The real reason why he had to pay was that when he took his $21K early 401K so that and his SS# $ which was counted in full triggered the 4x over the Fed poverty rate!!! Thanks a million for your help I really felt he didn't owe the whole thing and i really wanted to help him out!!!