Roth IRA early withdrawal penalty? - Asktaxguru

Q. I made an early withdrawal from my Roth IRA this year to meet some emergency expenses, but I do not qualify for an exception. So I'll have to pay 10% penalty on the amount I've withdrawn, which would be close to $1000.

However, I'm wondering if IRS will consider this $1000 as an underpayment for the year 2013, and charge me with additional penalties. In other words, if I owe more than $1000 in penalties and taxes, will there be a penalty for underpayment or should I pay estimated taxes? For example, if I owe $900 penalty for early withdrawal + $400 in taxes for 2013.

A. 1:It depends; IN GENERAL, unless an exception applies( as you said this is not your case), most distributions from a R-IRA before the owner reaches age 59 1/2 will be subject to an early withdrawal penalty of 10% on the amount of the distribution. Please do not confuse the early withdrawal penalty with the taxes imposed on a non-qualified distribution. A non-qualified distribution imposes an ordinary income tax on the distribution, but the early withdrawal penalty will be imposed in addition to that tax. For example, say Tom, age 35, made a R- IRA contribution of $5K in 2011. In 2013, his R-IRA has a balance of $6.5K .He decides to close/withdraw his R-IRA in a non-qualified distribution that year. Since the distribution is non-qualified, Tom will owe taxes on his Roth earnings of $1.5K(no tax imposed on the non-deductible contribution of $5K), and will pay tax on this amount at his marginal tax rate. In addition, since the distribution took place before Tom reached age 59 1/2, and since Tom did not meet any of the exceptions, Tom will also be assessed a 10% early withdrawal penalty on the earnings. If we assume that Tom is in the 28% marginal tax bracket, he will pay $420 in tax on the earnings, and will pay a penalty in the amount of $150 on the early distribution. This is a very steep price to pay.

2:As said, it depends. IN GEENRAL, unqualified IRA distributions are taxed as ordinary income, so the rate you'll pay depends on which tax bracket you fall in. In addition to the income taxes, you'll also owe an early withdrawal penalty on the taxable portion of the distribution unless an exception applies; First you withdraw your contributions tax-free, then, any earnings are taxable. For example, say you've made $20K in contributions and your R-IRA is worth $30K. If you take an early distribution of only $10K(up to $20K), it all comes out of contributions so you don't owe any taxes or penalties. However, a significant withdrawal exceeding $20K equals a significant increase in taxes and you may incur additional penalties if you do not account for this income by filing estimated tax payments. If your current estimated tax payments for this year will total 100 percent or more of your tax bill for last year, you qualify for the safe harbor provision and you do not have to make estimated payments or adjust your withholding. However, if your tax bill increases significantly due to your IRA withdrawal you may want to pay ahead so you don't have an excessively large bill next April. If you are nearing the end of the year, or already withholding the maximum, estimated payments can fill in the gap.If you are self-employed (even an EE who participates in an employer-sponsored 401k plan may also own a R-IRA too. She funds her R-IRA with after-tax dollars, and the earnings on her Roth account are tax-free; if an ER contributes to her R-IRA directly the ER must report it as income to you. Since it is income they must also report it to uncle sam as taxable income and the ER will have to pay payroll taxes on the contribution. )or choose to make estimated payments, you need to make a payment on the due date following your IRA withdrawal.

Source: http://www.asktaxguru.com/8098-roth-ira-early-withdrawal-penalty.html