I sold my home 9/2016 - I didn't make any money - but I paid a lot of closing costs and had to do a lot of repairs to sell - why can't I claim those costs

[MinhT]

You cannot claim a loss on the sale of your home.

Please see the following IRS web page fore more information:

https://www.irs.gov/uac/what-if-i-sell-my-home-for-a-loss

[Hal_Al]

Because that's the way the tax law is written. You may not claim a loss on the sale of your personal residence. Closing costs and fix-up repairs are only added to your cost basis.

The good news is that any profit on the sale of your residence is tax excludable, up to $250,000 ($500,000 married); if you owned and lived in the  home two out of the 5 years prior to the sale.