Consult with your tax adviser or your financial adviser to determine if you have better financial options to pay for school expenses. You will not be able to redeposit the dollars you withdraw from an IRA unless you do so within 60 days. The dollars you spend for education take dollars away from your retirement income.
Request a withdrawal from your IRA custodian. You will need your Social Security number, your valid personal identification and your IRA account number. State your purpose for withdrawing the funds. Indicating a withdrawal for education purposes avoids a mandatory 10 percent penalty. Your IRA custodian will report the withdrawal to the IRS according to the reason you specify.
Designate income tax withholding options on your withdrawal form. You can generally request a specific dollar amount or a percentage of your total withdrawal. You may also ask for no tax to be withheld, but you will need to pay taxes on your distribution when you file your income taxes for the current year.
Use your funds to pay for qualified expenses. According to Bankrate, qualified expenses include tuition, supplies, equipment such as computers and fees. If you attend school at least half-time, you may also include room and board.
Report your total IRA withdrawal on IRS Form 1040 and IRS Form 5329. While you do not need to send copies of your receipts to the IRS, it's a good idea to keep them with your tax records in the event you are audited.