I lost my job. Had to sell the house to pay debt. Is their any way to be exempt from the capital gains tax?
81022
Here is the specific link you will need:\nhttp://www.irs.gov/publications/p523/ar02.html#d0e1931\n\nYou can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain on the sale of your main home if all of the following are true. \n\nYou meet the ownership test.\n\nYou meet the use test.\n\nDuring the 2-year period ending on the date of the sale, you did not exclude gain from the sale of another home.
1120438
Great point TaxGuru... great answer too.\n\nI'm referring to the fact that you might have depreciated the property and refinanced the property (taking cash out) over the years.  You might have only paid off your liens, but still received funds in excess of your adjusted basis.\n\nCalculating your real estate gain takes into account a number of factors.  Your original purchase price could have easily been much lower than your present liens.  Although you wouldn't have had to pay gains tax when taking cash out, you would have to account at the time of sale/title transfer.\n\nI've been working on my 1031 exchange real estate site, and should complete the site by July 4th.  Many of the functions are up and running.. you can calculate your capital gain here:\nhttp://www.1031store.com/resources/1031_capital_gains_calculator.php\n\nAlso, the site will have a place where you can search for professionals who will be able to help you... notably accountants(1031 exchanges are about deferring capital gains).\nhttp://www.1031store.com/experts/1031_exchange_experts.php\n\nI hope that you do not owe anything because this sounds like a tough situation.  Your foreclosure expenses probably ate up an awful lot of your potential gain.  You might want to also contact a real estate attorney to make sure that you are getting a fair shake.\n\nHope that this helps...
189696
If you buy and then sell a house without living in it for 2 of the past 5 years as your primary residence, you will have to pay tax on any capital gains from the sale of the house. If you live in the house for 2 years, the first $250k of gains is tax-free ($500k if you are married)...
587371
My friend, there are a lot of issues in your question...I will attempt to brief you given your information.\n\n- You only pay capital gains tax on investment property or one that you earn income from.\n- You never lived on it but you owned it.  One assumes you therefore did not elect it to be your 'principal' place of residence.  \n- You held it more than 12 mths so you are entitled to 50% discount on capital gain (equity growth)\n- Capital gains can only be offset by capital losses....Your cost base seems to be more than cap gain. if so you wont therefore pay any tax on that gain (all be wiped off) However the excess losses accumulated cannot diminish or offset your over assessable income from other sources in yr tax return....Those losses are held and carried forward until you have any future Cap Gains.  then those losses will be used up.\n- Interest paid on ANY INCOME EARNING ASSET, OR INVESTMENT MECHANISM, ie Property, Boat, Vehicle, Business etc  are ALL DEDUCTIBLE....But only the investment and earning part. So you have to apportion the INTEREST that is BUSINESS related.  Ie...You get a loan for a whole house...You rent out a bedroom...You only claim for interest apportioned on a reasonalble basis related to the bedroom, some gas and electricity, maybe kitch etc etc..Usually done on floor space.\n- Must also realised interest is also claimed on an investment  property that was 'available' for rent but remained vacant.  ie even if someone didnt live there or no tenant, the interest is still deductible..But there are conditions.\n-Family TAX assistance (I think you mean Family Tax Benefit A and B??).  Anyway, the benefits depend on the following ATI or Adjusted taxable income.  That is:\n\nTaxable income (incl after Capital Gains & Losses been worked out) plus fringe benefit amounts on tax return  plus  tax free pensions or benefits PLUS losses from Rental property income...ie Net rent loss.\n in other words Net Rent  wont affect you. but say yr property was rented out and you made a loss, You have to add that loss back to your Taxable income to arrive at the TOTAL ATI used to assess your entitlement to Family Tax Benefit A and/or B.\nHope this helps.\nLater.
27709
We recently purchased a new house and wanted to sell, and reinvest the money into a new one... we called the IRS directly to find out if we'd be charged a capital gains tax, and the answer was yes.  If you sell your primary residence within 2 years, you will be charged a capital gains tax.  However, there could be good news...\n\nLast year if you made 49,5k or less you were only charged a 5% capital gains tax.  If you made more than that, you would be charged 15%.  To help maybe smooth the hit over on your $35k taxes...\n\nYou subtract legal, agent, long-term house upgrades from that number and only claim that as profit from the sale.  So if you made 35k from the sale, but your agent's fees were 10k, legal were 5k and house improvements to the old house were 1k, you would only claim 19k.  \n\nPlease, please please double check this with the IRS and/or your accountant.\n\nOh - and if you moved because you either lost your job, or relocated to a different state (and there are some other things), you could be exempt altogether from the tax.\n\nGood luck!!
215558
Hey, kid!\n\nYou are funny!  At least you did sell your house!  The job, sad though it is, doesn´t come into play here.  Surprizingly neither do the unemployment and moving.  \n\nHere is the deal.  There have been changes since you last checked.\n\nThe pattern now is a $250,000 exclusion from gains if you lived in the house for 2 of the last 5 years.\n\nIf you were married, hey you didn´t mention it, there is an increase to $500,000.\n\n\nSales price - sales costs - basis - exclusion equals gain.  \n\nIf you have a gain, you will have to list as a cap gain, despite the move and the job loss.\n\nGood Luck.
968354
Yes, you will need to pay CGT, no matter what you do with the sale proceeds. If you have ever lived in the house, however, you will be eligible for a relief proportional to the period of ownership when you lived in it. In addition, you may be eligible for taper relief of the property as a non-business asset, which reduces your liability depending on how long you've owned it - see table in link (which is a list of FAQ for CGT you may find useful in any case)
1175233
I do not think that you have any other options... sorry to be the bearer of the news... but you might want to see if you can declare this as a primary residence... you are really reaching on this one.\n\nThere are essentially 2 types of applicable exchanges:\nA 1031 exchange and a Section 121 exchange.\n\nYou know from your question what a 1031 exchange is.  If you need more informaiton feel free to check out my site (I'm launching next week, so the site will grow soon to help you with your needs):\nhttp://www.1031store.com\n\nA section 121 exchange is for a primary residence and allows 250K after 2 years for single 500K for married.  Key term here is a primary residence.\n\nYour renting the place.  If you have claimed the income on your taxes or have depreciated the property, you are in the realm of a 1031 exchange...  the way it works... please don't hate me for it.\n\nI've estimated your gain to be as follows:\nhttp://www.1031store.com/resources/1031_capital_gains_calculator.php?check=form&original=180000&grossprice=240000&improve=&sellingexp=12000&depreciated=6000&staterate=5.04&payment=&payment=&payment=&payment=&payment=&payment=\n\nI'm releasing the site next week, but very relevant as a source.  I'm not the end-all-be-all... but...\n\nHope this helps...
1125116
no.....\nI can tell ya I have seen some other issues here if its not documented right. you can't sale the house or get loan unless if you all agrees. What if someone got sick, mentally disabled, or missing and family  needs money?\n\nBesides house, U might have other personal properties, car, bank balance, investments, 401K, life insurance(which generally has named beneficiary)\nI think u need to consult a lawyer in your state. it will cost u few hundred $$.\n\n.... just came something in mind. By doing this you are giving away control of your wealth to them. And may be for IRS it consider as gift and it may be subject to tax.
149330
I dont think you have any time.  If the house was lived in less than two years, you always pay capital gains. Always check w/ your financial advisor or lawyer, but I think the min. is two years.
659687
if you and your spouse lived in the property for 2 of the past 5 years, you each could exempt $250k from capital gains. another option is using a 1031 exchange to purchase another real estate investment that would defer capital gains and pay you tax advantaged income. consult your local independant financial advisor and you can get a list of 1031 properties. your tax advisor can project the tax for you. you should set aside the $ in a one year cd. good luck
85232
No.  It is a personal use vacation home.  The good of selling your home is the gain on primary residences are not taxed...the bad is losses are not deductible.
577241
Your pretty much correct.\n\nHere is a link to my 1031 exchange site that I'm creating:\nhttp://www.nnnstore.com soon to be http://www.1031store.com\n\nYou will find good general information about 1031 exchanges, especially on the first page.\n\nHere is a link to my capital gains calculator:\nhttp://www.nnnstore.com/1031_capital_gains_calculator.php soon to be:\nhttp://www.1031store.com/1031_capital_gains_calculator.php\n\nThis will help you figure out your total capital gain due.  NH is a no capital gains state.  I calculate that you will owe $15,300 in capital gains taxes.\n\nThis figure could change if you depreciated the property or add in capital improvements.\n\nTo defer all capital gains taxes, 1031 exchanges are the way to go.  You will need to replace all debt & equity of your sale by purchasing another investment property.\n\nYou may do a partial 1031 exchange, reinvesting some of the proceeds and taking the gain on the rest(known as 'boot').\n\nA good title company should be able to help explain 1031 exchanges further, and also act as your accomodator for the exchange.
1113697
Maybe not, depending on how much you sold it for.  The law changed a few years back - until then, answer would have been yes.\n\nAssuming you owned and lived in the home for at least two years out of the five years before you sold the house, and you didn't exclude gain from another house in the 2 years before the sale, you can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain.  If you're married and file a joint return for the year of the sale, either you or your spouse owned the house for 2 years out of the 5 before the sale, both of you lived in the house for two of the five years before the sale, and neither of you excluded gain from another house within  2 years before the sale of this one, you can exclude $500,000 of the gain.\n\nIt doesn't matter anymore for tax purposes whether you invested the gain in another home.
124159
You can't.You may deduct the interest portion of the mortgage payment if you rent the house out.
121716
You will pay capital gains tax on the gain.\n\nYou first calculate how much you will sell it for minus your tax basis. The tax basis is what you bought it for minus how much you have depriciated it over the years. So if you bought it for $100k and depretiated $15000 over some number of years, then your basis is $85k. If you sell it for $150k then you pay capital gains on the difference of $65k.\n\nYou tax braket determines how much you will ultimately pay. You will have to ask a CPA for how to minimize them. You might be able to do an installment sale to save a little money. That way you only pay what you get each year, you can split it into 2 years if you sell some in december and the rest in jan, or do it over several years. This will possibly keep you in a lower bracket each year.
679290
The tax situation you are referring to involves the capital gains tax on your profit (if any). You must live in the home a total of two of the past 5 years to get the exemption. This allows you to not pay tax on the first $125,000 worth of profit on your home.  There are certain exceptions to the 2 year rule, that may allow you to exclude a percentage of your profit in specific cases. \n\nRemember your profit is the difference between the net (after selling costs like real estate commissions and closing costs you pay for your buyer) and your cost basis for the house. Your cost basis is the original purchase price, plus the cost of any improvements to the property.\n\nConsult a tax professional for more specific information.