Can a joint filing couple claim different primary residence if they live separately?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 1, 2019
1 reply
17 views

My wife and I own two homes jointly. We file tax jointly as well. However, we live separately in the last five years. If we sell both homes this year, can we claim both homes as our primary residence separately, and hence each getting a $250K gain exemption? Or we can claim only one primary residence since we file jointly. If so, can we elect to claim the home with higher appreciation? Thanks.

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Hal_Al

Level 15

Yes. You each get a $250K gain exclusion, filing jointly or separately.

Reference JK Lasser's Your Income Tax 2015 , section 29.3, pg 527. https://books.google.com/books?id=wSeRCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA531&lpg=PA531&dq=when+a+husband+and+wife+own+and... (scroll down)

Frank2Author

Level 2

Thanks for the answer, Hal_Al. However, I read another related article on this forum, in which the video provided by Intuit clearly states that IRS allows only one primary residence for a couple file jointly. If that's the case, how can we each claim a $250K gain? My understanding is that the exclusion only applies to primary/principal residence.

Thanks