SALE OF HOUSE
If your gain was more than $250,000 filing Single, or more than $500,000 filing Married Filing Jointly the sale must be reported on your tax return. Whether you re-invested the gain in to another house is irrelevant. If you have a Form 1099-S go to Federal>Wages and Income>Less Common Income>Sale of Home (gain or loss)
If you owned and lived in the home as your primary residence for at least 2 of the last 5 years on the date of the sale, you do not have to report the home sale if the gain is less than $250K filing Single, or less than $500K filing Married Filing Jointly (and you both owned and lived in the home for at least 2 years).
- If you are using online TT, you need Premium software to report the 1099-S
NOTE: If you have ever used the home as rental property or claimed a home office, you have more information to enter
A charitable donation almost never changes your tax due or refund all by itself. First, your donation does not count "dollar for dollar"--it is calculated by a percentage based on your tax bracket. You need a LOT of other itemized deductions like mortgage interest or property taxes, medical expense, etc. to itemize and exceed your standard deduction.
Your itemized deductions have to be more than your standard deduction before you will see a change in your tax owed or tax refund. The deductions you enter do not necessarily count “dollar for dollar;” many of them are subject to meeting tough thresholds—medical expenses, for example, must meet a threshold that is pretty hard to reach. (Only the amount that is MORE than 7.5% of your AGI counts) The software program uses all the IRS rules that apply to the expenses you enter, and it tells you if you have enough to use your itemized deductions or if using the standard deduction is more advantageous for you. Under the new tax laws, some deductions have been capped—there is a $10,000 limit to the itemized deductions for state, local, property and sales taxes.
Your standard deduction lowers your taxable income. The standard deduction makes some of your income “tax free.” It is not a refund.
2024 STANDARD DEDUCTION AMOUNTS
SINGLE $14,600 (65 or older/legally blind + $1850)
MARRIED FILING SEPARATELY $14,600 (65 or older/legally blind + $1500)
MARRIED FILING JOINTLY $29,200 (65 or older/legally blind + $1500)
HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD $21,900 (65 or older/legally blind + $1850)
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
