Your cost was $50,000. If you made improvements over the years, those amounts are added tpo the cost, as are certain sales expenses. Your sale price stays $300,000. Even if you are single, it appears that you qualify to excude the entire gain as is.
Items added to basis.
You can include in your basis the settlement fees and closing costs you paid for buying your home. A fee is for buying the home if you would have had to pay it even if you paid cash for the home. The following are some of the settlement fees and closing costs that you can include in the original basis of your home. Abstract fees (abstract of title fees). Charges for installing utility services. Legal fees (including fees for the title search and preparation of the sales contract and deed). Recording fees. Surveys. Transfer or stamp taxes. Owner's title insurance. Any amount the seller owes that you agree to pay, such as back taxes or interest, recording or mortgage fees, cost for improvements or repairs, and sales commissions.
If you meet the qualifications to use the exclusion, any gain over that amount is a capital gain. The exclusions are $250,000 for single, and $500,000 for married filing jointly. See the rules below.
Does Your Home Sale Qualify for Maximum Exclusion
The tax code recognizes the importance of home ownership by providing certain tax breaks when you sell your home. To qualify for these breaks, your home must meet the Eligibility Test , which is explained 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.
