This information should be listed on your Closing
Statement (HUD-1). You may want to contact your real estate agent for more
details related to this sale.
You are allowed to
deduct from the sales price almost any type of selling expenses, provided that
they don’t physically affect the property. Such expenses may include:
- advertising
- appraisal fees
- attorney fees
- closing fees
- document preparation fees
- escrow fees
- mortgage satisfaction fees
- notary fees
- points paid by seller to
obtain financing for buyer
- real estate broker's
commission
- recording fees (if paid by
the seller)
- costs of removing title
clouds
- settlement fees
- title search fees, and
- transfer or stamp taxes
charged by city, county, or state governments
Just remember that you do not need to enter the sale
of your primary residence if:
- You never used your primary
residence as a rental or took a home office expense
- 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)
