Can I still withdraw $10k from my Roth IRA without penalty for a 1st time home purchase, even under the new tax law passed Dec. 2017?

[ChrisVonHoep · Accepted solution]

The new tax law mainly affects income limits for contributions. 

The rules for qualified distributions, including qualified first-time home purchase, remain the same.

Here's a link to the full list of Roth Ira rules from the IRS: IRS Roth IRA Rules

as well as some useful blog posts:

2018 Roth Ira changes

2018 Roth Ira Withdrawal Rules

[paloma625]

Thank you Christian, that's very helpful! So I can withdraw $10,000 in earnings plus any contributions, or $10,000 total (earnings + contributions)?

[macuser_22]

Withdrawing your own previous contributions are *always* tax and penalty free and would not be included in the $10,000 exclusion because your own contributions are not subject to the penalty in the first place.   Only the earnings would be taxable and subject to the 10% early distribution penalty - up to $10,000 of the earnings can be exempted from the penalty for a first home if all the conditions are met.

[dmertz]

If it has been at least 5 years since the beginning of the year for which you first contributed to a Roth IRA, the exception not only makes a distribution of up to $10,000 of earnings penalty free, it also makes this portion of the distribution tax free as well.

[LinaJ2018]

Yes, you can withdraw $10,000 in earnings plus any amounts of your contributions tax and penalty free.  To add to macuser_22, you can take out the exact amount of your Roth IRA contributions at any time, for any reason without having to pay any tax or penalty.