IRS rules: avoiding taxes on up to 500k profit

[Agustin Rossi]

Can someone please explain the IRS rule that allows homeowners to avoid paying taxes on up to 500k in profit from selling their primary residence? Like what is the specific criteria that this deal and property has to meet? CPA advice is preferred but of course everyone is more than welcome to reply. Thanks!

[Joe Homs]

@Agustin Rossi  

The Home Must Be Your Principal Residence

To qualify for the exclusion, you must have used the home you sell as your principal residence for at least two of the five years prior to the sale. Your principal residence is the place where you (and your spouse if you're filing jointly and claiming the $500,000 exclusion for couples) live.

You can only have one principal residence at a time. If you live in more than one place—for example, you have two homes—the property you use the majority of the time during the year will ordinarily be your principal residence for that year.

If you have a second home or vacation home that has substantially appreciated in value since you bought it, you'll be able to use the exclusion when you sell it if you use that home as your principal home for at least two years before the sale.

$500,000 Exclusion for Married Couples

There are certain additional requirements you must meet to qualify for the $500,000 exclusion. Namely, you must be able to show that all of the following are true:

• you are married and file a joint return for the year
• either you or your spouse meets the ownership test
• both you and your spouse meet the use test, and
• during the 2-year period ending on the date of the sale, neither you or your spouse excluded gain from the sale of another home.

If either spouse does not satisfy all these requirements, the exclusion is figured separately for each spouse as if they were not married. This means they can each qualify for up to a $250,000 exclusion. For this purpose, each spouse is treated as owning the property during the period that either spouse owned the property. For joint owners who are not married, up to $250,000 of gain is tax free for each qualifying owner.

If your spouse dies and you subsequently sell your home, you qualify for the $500,000 exclusion if the sale occurs within two years after the date of death and the other requirements discussed above were met immediately before the date of death.

Good Investing...