Capital Gains primary residence

[John Hylton]

Hi guys, We bought a home last year (essentially a long term flip), and we decided to make it our primary residence for a bit. The reason was two-fold; it met our current needs as well as would keep us from paying capital gains tax. I know the law that if you live in the property for 2 years out of the last 5 years, you don't pay gains tax on $250k gains if single or $500k if married. My question is, when does the 2 year clock start? We closed on the home in August 2015.. We were renting a home in the meantime while we began a large renovation. We didn't physically move into the property until March of 2016 (when we also refinanced the property). I have been told by a few that my clock started the moment we bought it and therefore we could sell it in Aug 2017 and pay no gains tax. I want to make absolutely sure so we don't mess up by selling 7 months too early. Anyone have any real good insight to this? I appreciate any facts that might give us our answer. Part of me feels that if you are living in a home but move out for a few months to renovate, it would still be considered your primary to the IRS and this is more or less the same thing? Thank you again for your help.