roth ira - early distribution

[Guest haoleloco]

Greetings,

I am a 39 year old who has made roth ira contributions from 2001-2004 in the total amount of 11,000. My account balance fell to $8,359. I withdrew the entire amount for the 2009 tax year for an early total distribution . I know I have to pay the early withdrawal 10% penalty. Do I owe any additional taxes? Is the 8,359 counted as taxable income? I dont have any capital gains so I am just confused on how to handle this on my tax return.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Paul

[Borsley]

I'm sure someone will more fully answer your question, but I can tell you that you shouldn’t' suffer any double-taxation. That is, you already paid taxes on $11,000 of your Roth contributions (i.e.…this is your cost basis) snice you contribute to a Roth with after-tax dollars. You have no gain, so there is nothing left of your account that you didn't already pay taxes on once.