Hi! I just sold my home in NC and before I get a huge tax bill, can I put some of the gains into my primary residence in UT, by paying off home equity loan?

[DoninGA]

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).

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.

How you use the proceeds of the sale is not relevant.  The requirement to purchase another home at the same or higher price than the sale of the former home to defer the capital gains was removed from the tax code in 1997.

[Anonymous]

there is no way to defer the tax on the sale of a personal residence.    if you will be filing a joint return for the year of sale, your spouse must also have lived in the house for 2 years in the last 5 to get the $500K exclusion.  the spouse does not have to have an ownership interest.