If I paid taxes on my early retirement withdraw at the time i withdrew it why am i being taxed again

[IsabellaG]

The amount of your distribution is subject to both income tax and a 10% penalty for withdrawing early.

When you withdrew from your retirement, and  you elected to have tax withheld, if it wasn't enough to cover what your tax would be when you added the distribution to your other income and the penalty, you would owe more tax.

Many times, people only have the 10% withheld, and don't consider that the distribution is going to increase their income tax.