Taxation of primary residence

Taxation of primary residence

Member since 2020 · 1 post · 0 votes

Hey all. I have a question that may seem like an easy one for some, so decided to give it a shot.

My mother in law recently sold her home. She was on the deed with her father who had passed away a year ago. She was on the deed for 2 years and change before the sale happened.

Originally, she was put on the deed for long term care planning ( in the event that her father needed to go into a nursing home). In the end, he did not, he passed and then my mother in law sold the property.

Because her father owned the home for 43 years, he purchased for 30k and she sold for 550k. Now being that there is no step up in basis(i think that may have applied if he left house to kids after he passed) being that he put her on deed during his lifetime.

Now when I read the IRS guidelines about personal residence exclusion, Im seeing that as long as you owned 2 of last 5 years you can get up to 500k exclusion if you are married which she is. However her husband is not on deed, and she didnt purchase it, was just added to the deed over 2 years ago. She has not taken this exclusion in last 2 years which would make her ineligible for such an exclusion. Can anyone offer insight on this? Much appreciated!!

0Reply
23 views

1 Reply

Jump to latestLatest
  • Michael PlaksPro Member
    Tax Accountant / Enrolled Agent · Houston, TX · Member since 2014 · 5k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    5y

    @Steven Solonch

    It is not that simple. We would need to examine the specifics of the house ownership and her inheritance arrangement. It is possible that she might be entitled to the full $500k exemption, but we can't say it one way or the other based on what you shared. I strongly suggest consulting a professional.

    Now, I assumed that she and her husband lived IN that house, with her father, which is not clear from your post. If she lived elsewhere, she cannot use any of the exemption, no matter what.

    She had an excellent tax strategy if she asked this question before she sold the house, but it is too late now. She might still have a way to postpone her tax hit via investing in a "Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund" but this also requires professional help.

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.