How should I report a US property sale made while living abroad?

[overunderout]

My situation is as follows:
- lived in US condo until moving abroad in 2011
- rented condo from 2011-2015
- sold condo in 2016 while still living abroad

I don't know how to report the sale, as it is no longer my primary residence. Would it have been considered "business property" at the time of the sale?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[PatriciaV · Accepted solution]

Yes, you would report this as the Sale of Business Property because 1) you didn't use it as your primary residence for 2 of the last 5 years and 2) you did not use it as a rental property the year it was sold.

You will need to know the amount of depreciation that was taken during the period you reported this as a rental property. (TurboTax will not calculate this for you.) Look for a Depreciation Report in the worksheets of the tax return when you last reported this property as a rental.

The easiest way to find this section of TurboTax is to use the Search box at the top right side of the TurboTax header. Click on the magnifying glass, type in "sale of business property", hit Enter, and click on "jump to sale of business property" to go directly to beginning of this topic.

Or go to My Account >> Tools >> Topic Search. Type in "sale of business property", then click the topic in the list to go directly to the start of this section.

At the start of this section, choose "Sales of business or rental property that you haven't already reported" (see screenshot below - click to enlarge). Then follow the prompts to enter the sale, basis, and other info for your property. Note that you cannot report a loss on this type of sale.

[overunderout]

Thank you very much for your reply - very helpful. One follow up question - I understand I can deduct real estate agent commissions & title fees associated with the sale, but where do I do that? Do I simply subtract them from the "Total Sales Price"?

[PatriciaV]

Selling Expenses are included in the "Cost of Property" (see screenshot added above).

[overunderout]

Thank you very much!