Deductions & credits

Hello escrowderrn,

Unfortunately, this answer is, "Yes and No."    The first question is whether you actually sold your house in 2013.  I am assuming you did, but if not many of these same principles will apply for next year’s taxes.

When you sell your house you subtract from the selling price your basis.  (What you paid for the place, with all the extras that got tacked on at closing, and all adjustments to basis that took place over the years.)  You also subtract the costs of sale (the expenses you are responsible for at closing, broker's fees if applicable and costs you expended getting the house ready to sale.)

The first thing to note is that expenses for making a house ready to sell can be listed as selling expenses when you are trying to determine if you have a profit and, if you do, how much.  But it is important to note the distinction between improvements on the one hand, and repairs and maintenance on the other..  Improvements are more or less permanent changes to the house. These get added to your basis.  New tile would generally fall into that category.  But painting and general repairs are more likely to fall under "repairs and maintenance."  If you get the house sold within a reasonable period of time (what is considered reasonable will depend on a variety of factors), although they end up in a different category than do improvements. You put them under costs of sale.  There is a special section in TurboTax where you get asked question about - and enter answers to those questions - on this topic.

All these expenses, however, regardless of their nature, are not deductible against general income on your tax return.  They only act to reduce the profit on the sale of the house.

If you are concerned about whether you have taxable income from the sale of the house, TurboTax can calculate that for you.  And you can read about the rules in the material I am sending you links to at the end of this response.

If you have any additional questions on this same topic please reply to this thread rather than starting a new one.  That way I will be notified of the new question and anybody else who looks at it will see the whole history of the thread.

Hope this helps you get your taxes done. Thank you for choosing TurboTax!   Have a great day tomorrow.

Judd