Income Tax Deductions
Selling Your Home: FAQs

• Income Tax Deductions: Home Mortgage Interest
• Income Tax Deductions: Home Mortgage Interest FAQs
• Income Tax Deductions: Home Mortgage Points
• Income Tax Deductions: Home Refinancing Points
• Income Tax Deductions: Home Moving Expenses
• Income Tax Deductions: Selling Your Home
• Income Tax Deductions: Selling Your Home: FAQs

selling home sale gain exclusion exclude federal tax return FAQs

Also see our discussion: Selling Your Home

I sold my principal home this year. What form do I need to file?

If you meet the ownership and use tests, you will generally only need to report the sale of your home if your gain is more than $250,000 ($500,000 if married filing a joint return). This means that during the 5-year period ending on the date of the sale, you must have:

• Owned the home for at least 2 years (the ownership test), and
• Lived in the home as your main home for at least 2 years (the use test)

If you owned and lived in the property as your main home for less than 2 years, you may still be able to claim an exclusion in certain cases, although the maximum amount you can exclude will be reduced. If you are required or choose to report a gain, it is reported on Form 1040, Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses. This exclusion is generally allowed no more frequently than once every two years. For additional information, see Income Tax Deductions: Selling Your Home.

If I sell my home and use the money I receive to pay off the mortgage, do I have to pay taxes on that money?

It is not the money you receive for the sale of your home, but the amount of gain on the sale over your cost, or basis, that determines whether you will have to include any proceeds as taxable income on your return. You may be able to exclude any gain from income up to a limit of $250,000 ($500,000 on a joint return in most cases). If you can exclude all of the gain, you do not need to report the sale on your tax return.

If I take the exclusion of capital gain tax on the sale of my old home this year, can I also take the exclusion again if I sell my new home in the future?

With the exception of the 2-year waiting period, there is no limit on the number of times you can exclude the gain on the sale of your principle residence so long as you meet the ownership and use tests.

I lived in a home as my principal residence for the first 2 of the last 5 years. For the last 3 years, the home was a rental property before selling it. Can I still avoid the capital gains tax and, if so, how should I deal with the depreciation I took while it was rented out?

If, during the 5-year period ending on the date of sale, you owned the home for at least 2 years and lived in it as your main home for at least 2 years, you can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain ($500,000 on a joint return in most cases). However, you cannot exclude the portion of the gain equal to depreciation allowed or allowable for periods after May 6, 1997. This gain is reported on Form 4797. If you can show by adequate records or other evidence that the depreciation allowed was less than the amount allowable, the amount you cannot exclude is the amount allowed. Refer to IRS Publication 523: Selling Your Home for specifics on calculating and reporting the amount of the eligible exclusion.

Is the loss on the sale of your home deductible?

The loss on the sale of a personal residence is a nondeductible personal loss.

I have a home office. Can I deduct expenses like mortgage, utilities, etc., but not deduct depreciation so that when I sell this house, the basis won't be affected?

If you qualify to deduct expenses for the business use of your home, you can claim depreciation for the part of your home that is a home office. Generally, the part of your home that is a home office is depreciated over a recovery period of 39 years using the straight line method of depreciatiion and a mid-month convention. If you do not claim depreciation on that part of your home that is a home office, you are still required to reduce the basis of your home for the allowable depreciation of that part of your home that is a home office when reporting the sale of your home. For more information, refer to IRS Publication 587: Business Use of Your Home.

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