Can you withdraw Roth IRA contributions anytime?

The short answer, from the publication

Chapter 2 of Publication 590-B (2025) opens its tax discussion with a sentence worth quoting in substance: you do not include in gross income qualified distributions or distributions that are a return of your regular contributions from your Roth IRA or IRAs. You also do not include a distribution you roll over tax free into another Roth IRA. That is the reason Roth IRAs are often described as flexible: money you put in as a regular contribution has already been taxed, so taking it back is not a taxable event, and the 10% additional tax is aimed at the taxable part of a distribution, so it does not apply to a plain return of contributions either.

Why the order of withdrawal protects you

When a distribution is not a qualified distribution, the publication says there is a set order in which amounts are treated as distributed: regular contributions first, then conversion and rollover contributions on a first-in, first-out basis, and earnings last. The effect is that a withdrawal smaller than your total regular contributions is entirely a return of contributions. If you have contributed $20,000 across several years and the account is worth $26,000, you can take out up to $20,000 without any income tax and without the early distribution tax. The calculator above uses exactly this ordering with no conversions: enter contributions, earnings and the withdrawal.

When earnings get involved

Suppose you take out more than your contributions. The excess comes out of earnings, and a non-qualified distribution of earnings is included in your income and generally faces the 10% additional tax if you are under 59½ and no exception applies. A qualified distribution avoids both. The publication defines it as one made after the 5-year period that begins with the first tax year for which you made a Roth IRA contribution, and made on or after age 59½, because of disability, to a beneficiary or estate after your death, or for a first home up to a $10,000 lifetime limit. If you are over 59½ but the 5-year period has not run, earnings are taxable though the 10% tax would not apply because age 59½ is one of the listed exceptions. See the Roth 5-year rule for the clock.

A special case: taking contributions out by the due date

The publication has a separate rule for withdrawing a contribution, with its net earnings, by the due date of your return for the year of the contribution (extended due date if you extend). The contribution is then treated as if you never made it. The withdrawal of the contribution is tax free, but you must include the earnings on it in income for the year in which you made the contribution. This is the corrective path for a contribution you decide against, and it differs from an ordinary later withdrawal where earnings are not touched at all as long as contributions remain.

Worked example

Lena, 38, has made $14,000 of regular Roth IRA contributions over six years, and the account holds $19,500, so $5,500 is earnings. She withdraws $9,000 for a car repair. All $9,000 is treated as a return of regular contributions: nothing is included in income, no 10% tax applies, and her remaining contributions are $5,000. Two years later she withdraws $8,000. The first $5,000 is the rest of her contributions, and the next $3,000 reaches earnings. Unless that distribution is qualified or an exception applies, $3,000 is taxable and the 10% additional tax is $300. Put these numbers into the calculator to see each step.

What the account custodian reports

Roth IRA distributions are reported on Form 1099-R, and the custodian may not know your contribution history, so the form can show a code that suggests a taxable distribution even when yours is only a return of contributions. You work out the real taxable part on Form 8606, Part III, which the publication names as the way to figure the taxable part of a distribution that is not qualified. Keep a record of every contribution and conversion; the IRS does not track your Roth basis for you. The Roth IRA contribution calculator helps you see how much you can add each year.

Sources

• IRS Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (2025): Roth IRAs: Are Distributions Taxable?; Withdrawals of contributions by due date; What Are Qualified Distributions?; Ordering Rules for Distributions; How Do You Figure the Taxable Part?. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 590-B (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits and dates in this publication are for 2025; check the current publication and form instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.