topic We are selling our first home. We moved out and bought another home. the first home took 10 months to sell. Do I owe capital gains on the sale of the first home. it was never rented. It was for sale and being shown the whole 10 months for sale. in Deductions & credits

We are selling our first home. We moved out and bought another home. the first home took 10 months to sell. Do I owe capital gains on the sale of the first home. it was never rented. It was for sale and being shown the whole 10 months for sale.

jody_ehler — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 19:04:19 GMT

Re: We are selling our first home. We moved out and bought another home. the first home took 10 months to sell. Do I owe capital gains on the sale of the first home. it was never rented. It was for sale and being shown the whole 10 months for sale.

DoninGA — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 19:07:58 GMT

The purchase of another home has no bearing on whether or not you will owe capital gains tax from the sale of the first home.

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

Or enter sale of home in the Search box located in the upper right of the program screen. Click on Jump to sale of home

Re: We are selling our first home. We moved out and bought another home. the first home took 10 months to sell. Do I owe capital gains on the sale of the first home. it was never rented. It was for sale and being shown the whole 10 months for sale.

Opus 17 — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 21:11:41 GMT

the details are in publication 523.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-523

To use the $250,000/$500,000 exclusion, you must have owned the home at least 2 years AND used the home as your main home for at least 2 years -- the time that you were moved out and living in home #2 still counts for the ownership test but does not count for the main residence test.