How do I calculate taxes on the sale of a house?

[xmasbaby0]

SALE OF HOUSE

If your gain was more than  $250,000 filing Single, or more than $500,000 filing Married Filing Jointly the sale must be reported on your tax return.  Whether you re-invested the gain in to another house is irrelevant.  If you  have a Form 1099-S go to Federal>Wages and Income>Less Common Income>Sale of Home (gain or loss)

If you owned and lived in the home as your primary residence for at least 2 of the last 5 years on the date of the sale, you do not have to report the home sale if the gain is less than $250K filing Single, or less than $500K filing Married Filing Jointly (and you both owned and lived in the home for at least 2 years).

• If you are using online TT, you need Premier or Self-Employed software to report the 1099-S

[rjs]

Your gain on the sale of the house is the selling price minus your basis. The selling price is probably not the same as the amount of money you received. Paying off a mortgage is not taken into consideration in determining the gain.

If you purchased the house, your basis is the amount you paid for it, plus the cost of any improvements that you made. If you acquired the house in some way other than by buying it, post more information.

If you owned the house for more than a year the gain is long-term, whether or not you qualify for the exclusion of gain that xmasbaby0 described. On your federal tax return, long-term gain is taxed at lower rates than ordinary income. The actual rate depends on the taxable amount of the gain, the amount of your other taxable income, and your filing status. Most states do not have lower state tax rates for long-term gain.