real estate investment

[Momziggy]

I signed a contract for what was to be a rental property in 2004, the builder sold my lot to another builder and in 2005 I signed another contract with the new builder for $270000.00 and payed $89000 of that up front for the lot.  In 2006 the original developer of the project declared bankruptcy and all building was put on hold.  The builder I signed a contract with did not declare bankruptcy and as he owned many of the lots  he became active in resolving the problems.  The bankruptcy was resolved in 2015 but the builder refused to build the home stating he was no longer in the building business.   I decided to just sell the lot in 2018 as i was tired of paying taxes and homeowner dues with no house in sight.  I sold it for approximately what I paid for it.  My question is how do I declare it or do I?  with the original price of 270000, I have a loss, but the house was never built.

[LudwigVan_fan]

I don't have a simple answer for you.  I think you'll have to report the sale...you should have received a F1099 for the sale.  You state you sold the lot in 2018...did you report it on your 2018 return?   If not, you many have to amend your 2018 return.  Since the sale occurred in 2018, that is the year of reporting.

I'll provide you with links to two IRS publications.  The first is selling your home.  I don't think this qualifies as no home was built and you didn't reside on the property.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p523.pdf

This is a link to Publication 544, Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets.  Note that this pub and the prior pub are shown as 2018.  As of the the time of this posting, no new pub for 2019 was available on the IRS site.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p544.pdf