You won't pay taxes on the first $250,000 (also known as a gain) you make from the sale of your home. If you file jointly, you won't pay taxes on the first $500,000.
That income is free and clear as long as:
- You owned the home.
- It was your main home for two years or more within the five years leading up to the sale.
- You waited at least two years between selling your primary home and excluding your first $250,000 or $500,000 from taxes. In other words, you may buy and sell as many primary homes as you'd like, but you'll only get this tax benefit every two years.
If you sell the house on May 30, 2020 - you would need to have lived in the house for two years (it does not have to be consecutive days) since May 30, 2015. The time spent renovating the property doesn't count as time you live there unless you actually lived there while you renovated it.
When you sell a property that was used as a rental, you must pay a 25 percent recapture tax (also referred to as Section 1250 recapture) as well as regular state income tax on the depreciation you claimed. (Remember the IRS will assume that you claimed the correct amount of depreciation every year—this is true regardless of whether you actually claimed any depreciation on your tax return).
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