Sale of Home Question

10 replies
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I'm entering the sale of my home information and seem to be stuck in a loop within the software...probably not answering a question correctly.

Debt Assumed by buyer = 0

Installment Sale Selling Price = Yes (since the sale happened and closed within the same tax year)

Principal and Interest Received - Payments Received in 2025 = 0

Received MTG Payment = No (no s seller financed mtg)

Depreciation on installment sale property = 0 (not claim any depreciation on the property)

Related Party Sale = No

Now the software loops me back to first Question above.

When I switch to form view - since line 14 is less than zero it states don't complete the rest of the form

Sale Price = 425

Cost Basis = 409

Comm and Exp = 30

Can anyone explain to me what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks

TurboTax Home & Biz Windows

DoninGA

Level 15

Are you reporting the sale of the home as an installment sale where the purchaser pays you directly for a set number of years? If not then you are in the wrong section of the program for a home sale.

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 the home for two years).

Gain or Loss = Sales Price minus Sales Expenses minus Adjusted Basis (Purchase Price plus the cost of improvements prior to the sale)

Selling cost can include escrow fees, legal fees, real estate agent commissions, advertising costs, and even home staging fees.

If you had a gain greater then the exclusion amounts then you would have to report the sale. Also, if you received a Form 1099-S for the sale either with a gain or a loss, the sale has to be reported. You will need the online TurboTax Premium edition to report the sale if you are using the online editions. Make sure that you indicate that you want the sale of the home reported on your tax return.

Click on Federal Taxes (Personal using Home and Business)
Click on Wages and Income (Personal Income using Home and Business)
Click on I'll choose what I work on (if shown)
Scroll down to Less Common Income
On Sale of Home (gain or loss), click the start or update button

cdocean79Author

Level 2

That's how I entered the sale of the home. I understand the 500k exclusion amount for married couples and that we don't need to report it, but there are expenses ~38k that I would like to enter to see if I can benefit from or not. I deleted the sale of the house and reentered it, and it puts me back into the loop I previously experienced.

AmyC

Alumni - Intuit

I see installment sales in the first question and sale of main home in the second question. If you qualify for the $500k exclusion, it is main home and you are wanting to know if the $38k in expenses can help your tax refund.

Money spent on your main home to buy, to sell, to improve all go into the basis. If you spent $38k to upgrade and improve the home or sell the home, that should be added to your purchase price. It reduces the amount of gain. If your gain is over $500k, it could reduce your tax liability.

You state that you do not need to enter your home because the exclusion covers the sale. You would only enter your main home if you received a 1099-S or if you had taxable income.

Follow these steps for ale of main home entry:

less common income
sale of home - note installment sales are listed just below and easy to hit the wrong button
yes/start
address of home
1099-S - yes or no
date sold
sales price
sales expenses -maybe the $38k goes in sales expenses? You don't say what created the expenses.
you can ask the program to help you calculate the basis and it will cover everything - the $38k will definitely be in there.

If you did an installment sale and the buyer is paying you every year/ month until the house is paid, you would need to file the 6252 for an installment sale. It is filled out every year until the house is sold. Your first question shows you in the installment sale screens.

If you sold you main home as an installment sale with no taxable gain, you would file installment sale Form 6252 and report interest income on Sch B.

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