Capital Gain Exclusion Question

[Dylan Boyd]

I had a friend ask a question related to the capital gain exclusion on the sale of a primary residence. Currently you must live in the residence 2 out of 5 years for eligibility. As I understand it, this will change on 1/1/18 to where you must live in the primary residence for 5 years if the tax laws are changed. I am not up to date on any revisions that have been made, so is this still the case? Also, he asked if refinancing the property would start the clock back over. If I am reading IRS Pub. 523 correctly, this won't matter, would that still be correct with the new tax laws?  

[Steve Milford]

I have been watching this closely. Last time I looked, yesterday, that change is NOT going to happen. It was initially on the books and was taken out. It was going to be instead of 2 of 5, future 5 of 8.