Is a roth IRA a potentially tax free account?

Nothing is tax free. On a Roth IRA you pay the tax on the money the year you put it into the IRA. You are supposed to be able to withdraw it from the IRA without paying tax on it. In a regular IRA you put the money into an IRA and do not pay tax on it when you put it in. You pay the tax on it when you withdraw it. The idea behind the regular IRA is that you will pay taxes in old age when your income is down. The idea behind the Roth is that the government can get money from you now. You have to decide which you think is better in your particular situation.