Capital Gains on Live-In Duplex

[Zachary Cuneo]

Hey everyone,

So I can't seem to get a straight answer on this, so I hope knowledge here will help to answer this question. I owned a Duplex from May 2015 until December 2017. I moved in on July 15, 2015, for a total of 2 years and 5 months of residence. I was always under the impression that an individual filing single is exempt  from any capital gains up to $250,000 on their profit if they have lived in the property for 2 of the last 5 years (last 10 if military). However, I had to file an amendment for my 2016 taxes, and while doing so, the representative (at H&R Block) told me that since i rented out even part of my property, I do not qualify for this exemption. At best, I would be exempt based on the percentage that was my personal use. For example, in a 1,000 sq. ft across 2 units (2,000 total), if I used 200 sq. ft. of it for myself, and the rest was rented out, then i can exempt 10% of the capital gains on the profit. Can anyone here verify if this is true?