You may be safe from paying a tax.
People may need to tap into their individual retirement account before turning age fifty-nine and a half. Withdrawing money before that age subjects the funds to an additional 10% tax. Withdrawing funds after that age, there's no additional tax penalty. This additional levy can be avoided under the following circumstances:
You had a "direct rollover" to your new retirement account,
You received a lump-sum payment but rolled over the money to a qualified retirement account within 60 days,
You were permanently or totally disabled,
You were unemployed and paid for health insurance premiums,
You paid for college expenses for yourself or a dependent,
You bought a house for the first time
You paid for medical expenses exceeding 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, or
The IRS levied your retirement account to pay off tax debts.
Read more:
http://taxes.about.com/b/2008/09/22/taking-early-distributions-from-an-ira.htm
