When Can You Withdraw an IRA Without Penalty?

Age 59½ is the usual threshold for avoiding the IRA early-distribution tax—not a promise that every withdrawal is tax-free. Before 59½, taxable IRA distributions generally face an additional 10% tax unless an exception applies. Roth IRA regular contribution basis comes out first without income tax or this additional tax at any age. Recent taxable Roth conversions have a separate five-tax-year recapture rule. An exception may remove the additional tax while leaving ordinary income tax due; a disqualifying change to an earlier SEPP schedule can also trigger recapture after age 59½.

Major §72(t) Exceptions for IRAs

These exceptions can remove the additional early-distribution tax from an otherwise taxable IRA withdrawal. Each has conditions; workplace-plan exceptions are not automatically IRA exceptions. Publication 590-B (2025), chapters 1–3, explains the rules, with newer authorities noted below.

• Death (paid to beneficiary) — §72(t)(2)(A)(ii)
• Disability — §72(t)(2)(A)(iii). Total and permanent.
• Substantially equal periodic payments (SEPP / 72(t)) — §72(t)(2)(A)(iv). The required minimum distribution, fixed amortization and fixed annuitization methods are available. The arrangement must continue until the later of five years after the first payment or age 59½.
• Unreimbursed medical expenses — §72(t)(2)(B). Limited to qualifying expenses paid in the distribution year above 7.5% of that year's AGI. Itemizing deductions is not required.
• Health insurance premiums while unemployed — §72(t)(2)(D). Generally requires losing a job and receiving unemployment compensation for 12 consecutive weeks. The distribution must be in that year or the following year and no later than 60 days after reemployment. A special rule covers otherwise eligible self-employed people who cannot receive unemployment compensation because of their self-employment.
• Qualified higher-education expenses — §72(t)(2)(E). Limited to eligible expenses for yourself, spouse, children or grandchildren at an eligible institution, after required reductions for tax-free educational assistance. Expenses must be for the distribution year.
• First-time home purchase — §72(t)(2)(F). Up to $10,000 over the IRA owner's lifetime, not an indexed annual amount. Qualified acquisition costs generally must be paid within 120 days. The first-time-buyer test generally requires no ownership interest in a main home during the preceding two years; if married, the buyer's spouse must also meet it.
• IRS levy — §72(t)(2)(A)(vii). A distribution because of a levy on the IRA, not a voluntary withdrawal to pay a tax bill.
• Qualified reservist distribution — §72(t)(2)(G). For a qualifying reserve-component member ordered or called to active duty after September 11, 2001 for more than 179 days or an indefinite period. The distribution window begins on the date of the order or call and ends at the close of the active-duty period; it need not wait until active duty actually starts.
• Qualified birth or adoption — §72(t)(2)(H). Up to $5,000 per parent, per child, within one year after the birth or eligible adoption. Adoption of a spouse's child does not qualify.
• Qualified disaster recovery distribution — §72(t)(2)(M). Up to $22,000 per qualified disaster, subject to principal-residence, economic-loss and distribution-window requirements. A disaster declaration alone does not make every withdrawal eligible; consult Publication 590-B, chapter 3, for the applicable 180-day window.
• Earnings in a timely corrective IRA distribution — §72(t)(2)(A)(ix). The additional tax does not apply to earnings distributed with a contribution returned by the return due date, including extensions, under the corrective-distribution rules. SECURE 2.0 §333 removed this additional tax; its effective-date provision covers liability determinations made on or after December 29, 2022. Otherwise taxable earnings still must be reported.

Newer Exceptions: Different Dates and Limits

SECURE 2.0 did not give all its exceptions the same effective date:

• Domestic abuse victim distribution — §72(t)(2)(K), available for distributions after December 31, 2023. The 2026 ceiling is the lesser of $10,500 or 50% of the vested account balance. The distribution must be within one year of abuse by a spouse or domestic partner. The rules permit reliance on self-certification and qualifying repayment within three years.
• Terminal illness distribution — §72(t)(2)(L), available for distributions after December 29, 2022, including from IRAs. No dollar cap. Physician certification must precede the distribution and establish an illness or physical condition reasonably expected to result in death within 84 months.
• Emergency personal expense distribution — §72(t)(2)(I), available for distributions after December 31, 2023. For qualifying unforeseeable or immediate personal or family emergency needs, the ceiling is the lesser of $1,000 or the vested balance above $1,000. Only one distribution per person may receive this treatment in a calendar year. Separately, another from the same plan or IRA is barred in the following three calendar years unless the earlier amount is fully repaid there, or your subsequent individual contributions there at least equal the amount still unrepaid. For a plan, qualifying employee contributions and elective deferrals count; employer contributions do not. Qualifying repayment is permitted within three years.

Not an IRA exception: the newer §72(t)(2)(N) long-term-care insurance distribution rule applies to eligible workplace plans, not IRAs. Roth catch-up contribution requirements are also not withdrawal-tax exceptions.

Sources: Notice 2024-55, §§III.A–B (emergency and domestic-abuse distributions); Notice 2025-67 (2026 indexed limit); Notice 2024-2, §II.F (terminal illness); Notice 2026-33, footnote 6 (IRAs excluded from the long-term-care rule).

Roth IRA Contributions: The Always-Penalty-Free Layer

For nonqualified Roth IRA distributions, IRC §408A(d)(4) ordering rules apply across your Roth IRAs, not separately to whichever account you choose to withdraw from:

1. Regular contribution basis — unrecovered regular contributions come out first, without income tax or the additional early-distribution tax at any age.
2. Conversions and rollover contributions — generally oldest year first, with the taxable conversion portion before its nontaxable portion. A conversion is not taxed as income again, but withdrawing its previously taxable portion before age 59½ and before its own five-tax-year period ends can trigger 10% recapture unless an exception applies. The clock begins January 1 of the conversion year. The portion that was nontaxable at conversion does not face this recapture.
3. Earnings — a qualified distribution requires the Roth IRA five-tax-year period plus age 59½, death, disability or a qualifying first-home distribution within the $10,000 lifetime cap. Nonqualified earnings are taxable; before 59½ they also generally face the 10% additional tax unless an exception applies. Age 59½ alone does not satisfy the five-year income-tax requirement.

Example: after regular contribution basis has been exhausted, a withdrawal allocated to $6,000 that was taxable in a recent conversion can produce $600 of recapture if you are under 59½ and no exception applies. A $2,000 nontaxable portion of that conversion does not create this recapture. These are illustrative amounts, not contribution limits. Withdrawing Roth funds does not automatically restore contribution room or create an unlimited right to redeposit them. See What Age Can You Withdraw From a Roth IRA? and Publication 590-B, chapter 2.