One of the more popular provisions in the tax code is the
$250,000 capital gain exclusion ($500,000 for a married couple) of any
profit made when selling your home. As long as you follow the rules, most
home sales transactions are not a taxable event.
- But
what if the tax law changes?
- What
if you rent out your home?
- What
if you have a home office?
- What
if you cannot prove the cost of your home?
Your best
defense to a potentially expensive tax surprise in your future is proper
record retention.
The problem
The gain
exclusion is so high, that many of us are no longer keeping track of the
true cost of our home. This mistake can be costly. Remember, this gain
exclusion still requires documentation to support the tax benefit.
The calculation
To calculate
your home sale gain, take the sales price received for your home and
subtract your basis. Basis is an IRS tax term that equals the original cost
of your home including closing costs, adjusted by the cost of any
improvements you have made in your home. You might also have a reduction in
home value due to prior damage or casualty losses. As long as the home sold
is owned by you as your principal residence in at least two of the last
five years, you can usually take advantage of the capital gain exclusion on
your tax return.
To keep the tax surprise away
Always keep
documents that support calculating the true cost of your home. These
documents should include:
- Closing
documents from the original home purchase
- All
legal documents
- Canceled
checks and invoices from any home improvements
- Closing
documents supporting the value when the home is sold
There are
some cases when you should pay special attention to tracking your home’s
value:
- You
have a home office. When a home office is
involved, it can impact the calculation of the capital gain exclusion.
This is especially true if you depreciated part of your home for
business use.
- You
live in your home for a long time.
Most homes will rise in value. The longer you stay in your home, the
more likely the value of your home will rise over time. For example, a
sizable gain can occur when an elderly single parent sells their home
after living in it for over 40 years.
- You
live in a major metropolitan area.
Certain areas of the country are known to have rapidly increasing
property values.
- You
rent your home. Any time part of your home
is depreciated, it can impact the calculation for available gain
exclusion. Home rental also can impact the residency requirement
calculation to receive the home gain tax exclusion.
- You
recently sold another home. The
home sale gain exclusion can only be used once every two years. If you
recently sold a home for a gain, keeping all documents related to your
new home will be critical.
The best way
to protect this tax code benefit is to keep all home-related documents that
support calculating the cost of your property. Please call if you wish to
discuss your situation.
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