It depends
You do not need to enter the sale of your primary
residence if:
- You never used your primary
residence as a rental or took home office deduction
- You have a loss on the sale
of your home (Personal capital losses are not reported on your tax return)
- You did not receive a Form
1099-S and
- You meet the home gain
exclusion (see below)
You can take the gain exclusion as
long as you considered the home your "primary residence" for 2 of the
last 5 years. If you have a capital
gain from the sale of your main home, you may qualify to exclude up to $250,000
of that gain from your income. You may qualify to exclude up to $500,000 of
that gain if you file a joint return with your spouse. See Sale of Your Home for more information on the exclusion.
If you still need to enter your sale of your primary
residence (which may require an upgrade in TurboTax), please follow these
steps:
- Once you are in your tax return (for TurboTax Online
sign-in, click Here), click on the “Federal Taxes” tab
("Personal" tab in TurboTax Home & Business)
- Next click on “Wages &
Income” ("Personal Income" in TurboTax Home & Business)
- Next click on “I’ll choose
what I work on”
- Scroll down the screen until
to come to the section “Less Common Income”
- Choose “Sale of Home (gain or
loss)” and select “start’
- You will want to use the
"Easy Guide" to determine the adjusted basis on this home
Say
"yes" that you sold your main home and TurboTax will guide you on
entering this information. You will need:
- The date you sold your home
and the selling price (from your closing statement)
- The date you bought your home
and the purchase price (from your closing statement)
- The cost of any major
improvements you made, so we can deduct them for you
- Form 1099-C if you sold your
home at a loss (short sale)
Just
remember to check the box to have your home sale reported on your tax return
but ONLY if you receive a 1099-S