There is not a one-time exemption for capital gains on the sale of your home - but there IS an exclusion of up to $250,000 on the gain on the sale of your primary residence ($500,000 if married filing jointly) if you meet certain rules. And it is not a one-time exclusion - as long as you meet the rules you can exclude part or all of the gain on the sale of a primary residence as long as you did not exclude the gain on a previous sale within the last two years.
This tax law is known as the "Section 121 Exclusion". In general, to qualify for the Section 121 exclusion, you must meet both the ownership test and the use test. You're eligible for the exclusion if you have owned and used your home as your main home for at least two years out of the last five years prior to the date of sale. Generally, you're not eligible for the exclusion if you excluded the gain from the sale of another primary residence during the two-year period prior to the sale of this home.
Note that this exclusion is only for your primary residence. If you are selling a second home or a vacation home, then there is no current tax law that excludes any gain from that sale from your income.
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