Roth IRA Withdrawal Question

[zenyata]

Hello All -

I may need to withdraw a portion of the $$ in my (Vanguard) Roth IRA account but there's something I'm not clear on and I'm wondering if anyone has experience doing this.

I understand that the distribution / withdrawal won't be taxed at the federal level as long as it is below the amount contributed and that beyond that any earnings are taxable.  Does that same principle hold as far as whether the distribution is taxable at the state level ?  I couldn't seem to find any state specific information (I'm in New York) and for NY kept getting hung up in links I think were specific to NY state gov't employees retirement plans.

Thanks for any information you can provide !

-z

[ulrichw]

From this reference (https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/memos/income/m98_7i.pdf):

"Distribution Income. Income distributed from a Roth IRA is exempt from tax if it is exempt
from federal income tax. If a Roth IRA distribution is subject to federal tax because it was not
a qualified distribution, it is also subject to state and city taxes. In this Memorandum, these
taxable income distributions will be referred to as distribution income."

And since I found an answer for you, I'll assert my right to deliver a little advice: I hope this is an absolute last resort. Your retirement accounts should be left to grow and compound until you're ready to retire. Withdrawing from them will set you *way* back. I'd look for better options.

Edit: Just found your thread on your special circumstances - so my generic advice on withdrawing from your IRA may not be so on point. I'd still recommend saving your Roth space if you can. It's a lot easier to get money out of it than in.

[zenyata]

Thank you ulrichw - that's one great thing about this forum is that people genuinely look out for each other which is pretty refreshing especially since the topic ($$) is one where people often do anything but look out for each other :)

I was exploring a few different options I have and I do appreciate the point about the $$ being easy to get out of the IRA but much more difficult to get in...

I'm definitely going to check out out other possibilities but I just wanted to be sure I knew the full tax implications regarding the IRA deal...

Thanks again.

-z