You can exclude the sale and exclude yet another sale, if the time periods allow. The time period is only two years. If you do not think you will meet the time qualification, you can forgo it now, which will allow you to take it later.
How your sale qualifies. Your
sale qualifies for exclusion of $250,000 gain ($500,000 if married filing
jointly) if all of the following requirements are met.
- You owned the home and used it as your main home during
at least 2 of the last 5 years before the date of sale.
- You didn’t acquire the home through a like-kind
exchange (also known as a 1031 exchange), during the past 5 years.
- You didn’t claim any exclusion for the sale of a home
that occurred during a 2-year period ending on the date of the sale of the
home, the gain from which you now want to exclude.
