Distribution to U.S. citizen living abroad

[Vlad401k]

In one of our plans, we have a distribution pending for a U.S. citizen who's currently living abroad, but is planning to return to U.S. at some point in time. She requested a direct distribution. Should the federal withholding be 20% or 30%. I know's it's 30% for non-resident aliens, but since she's technically a U.S. citizen, should it be just 20%?

[masteff]

It's definitional. She is a citizen. An alien is a non-citizen. See the first 2 sentences here: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Taxation-of-Nonresident-Aliens

[ESOP Guy]

I believe it is 20%. The whole 30% is for non-citizens that don't live in a tax treaty country. if a non-citizen lives in a tax treaty country the rate can drop down to 15% in some cases.