The requirement to defer capital gains by purchasing a residence that was greater than the sale price of the prior home was removed from the tax code in 1997.
If you sold your primary personal residence and you lived in and owned the home for at least two years in the five year period on the date of sale, you do not have to report the sale if your gains are less then the exclusion amounts of $250,000 if filing Single or $500,000 if filing Married Filing Jointly (and both lived in and owned the home for two years).
