live in a house for 2 years, and pay no tax question

[John H.]

In MA, if I live in a house 2 of the past 5 years, I can sell it tax free.

I owned a house for 2 years 1 month.

Does the IRS check up on where you lived for that 2 years?

I actually lived there 2 years, but through post office address changes I did not. I was late changing my address by months and I changed my address early by months so my new drivers license would be of that of my new house.

I made less than $20k profit so its not even a huge tax break, but I hate paying extra in taxes out of fear.

Any thoughts?

[Dave Toelkes]

Originally posted by John H.:

In MA, if I live in a house 2 of the past 5 years, I can sell it tax free.
I owned a house for 2 years 1 month.

Just to clarify the rules. To get the capital gains exclusion on the sale of your primary residence, you must have both owned AND occupied the property as your primary residence for two of the five years prior to sale. Just living in the house two years is not sufficient if you have not also owned it for two of the five years prior to sale.