Retirement tax questions

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@hola9393 wrote:

Thanks for the reply. However, I think the 5-year period referred to in this section of Pub 590b is for purposes of defining whether taxes and/or penalties apply to a given distribution following a conversion or roll over. Such 5-year period I think is different from the 5-year period criteria used to determine whether a distribution is a "qualified distribution" or not, which is what I am trying to understand. Publication 590b defines a "Qualified Distribution" as:

"A qualified distribution is any payment or distribution from your Roth IRA that meets the following requirements:

1. It is made after the 5-year period beginning with the first tax year for which a contribution was made to a
Roth IRA set up for your benefit.

2. The payment or distribution is:

a. Made on or after the date you reach age 59.5...[...]"

Question: is a roll over from a Roth 401k considered a "contribution" for purposes of satisfying the condition in point (1) above?

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Yes, there are two 5 year periods.  One as yiu state and one applies to rollovers and conversions.  That is why the TurboTax 1099-R interview for distributions ask if there was a rollover or conversion and what year it took place in to determine if the 5 year rule was met.

The ordering rules for Roth distribution state your regular Roth contributions are removed first that are always tax free, then rollovers/conversions and finally any earnings.

If you receive a distribution from your Roth IRA that isn't a qualified distribution, part of it may be taxable. There is a set order in which contributions (including conversion contributions and rollover contributions from qualified retirement plans) and earnings are considered to be distributed from your Roth IRA. For these purposes, disregard the withdrawal of excess contributions and the earnings on them (discussed under What if You Contribute Too Much? in chapter 2 of Pub. 590-A). Order the distributions as follows.