If you owned and lived in the place for two of the five years before the sale, then up to $250,000 ($500,000 if you are married) of profit is tax-free.
If you sold for a loss, though, you can't take a deduction for that loss.
You generally can skip reporting your home sale on your income tax return, as long as you did not receive a Form 1099-S: Proceeds from Real Estate Transactions from the real estate closing agent -- a title company, real estate broker or mortgage company.
If you did receive a Form 1099-S, that means the IRS got a copy as well. That doesn't necessarily mean you owe tax on the sale, though. It could be a mistake, or the closing agent might not have had the proper paperwork. If you qualify for the exclusion to make all of your profit tax-free, don't report the home sale. But make sure all your paperwork is in order to show the IRS if it asks.
To avoid getting this form (and having a copy sent to the IRS), you must give the agent some assurances at any time before February 15 of the year after the sale that all the profit on the sale is tax-free.
You can use this exclusion every time you sell a primary residence, as long as you owned and lived in it for two of the five years leading up to the sale, and haven't claimed the exclusion on another home in the last two years.
If your profit exceeds the $250,000 or $500,000 limit, the excess is reported as a capital gain on Schedule D.
Please see this informative TurboTax article on the sale of your home:
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Home-Ownership/Tax-Aspects-of-Home-Ownership--Selling...
