Can I sell my house on August 30, 2019 and avoid capital gains tax on a house I purchased August 30, 2017? Or do I have to wait at least another day? Ie. beyond 730 days.

[halpalms]

It's 24 full months or 730 days and you won't own and use the house on Aug. 30, 2019 if you close on that date.

[Anonymous]

from IRS reg 1.121-1

In general. The requirements of ownership and use for periods aggregating 2 years or more may be satisfied by establishing ownership and use for 24 full months or for 730 days (365 × 2). The requirements of ownership and use may be satisfied during nonconcurrent periods if both the ownership and use tests are met during the 5-year period ending on the date of the sale or exchange.

so the answer would be yes except you did not say whether you used it as your principal residence starting  8/30/2017.   you may have closed on that date, but in some cases occupancy can be delayed.    for example, when I closed on my house, the sellers ran into a problem.    they needed 3 more days to move out.  (problems closing on their new house)    after consulting with the real estate agent.  they paid for my stay in a fine hotel and storage of household items until I could move in.     so my use did not begin on the date of closing       

if you rented out the house, depreciation would have to be recaptured 

if you meet both tests then if you're single only $250,000 of gain (without regard to depreciation recapture) can be excluded.  

i

[halpalms]

You missed the question.....do the closing days count as days of ownership and use or not. If you bought a house and closed on Aug. 30, 2017 at 5:00pm does that count as a day of ownership and use? If you sell a house and plan to close at 9:00am on Aug. 30, 2019 are you deemed to have owned and used the house on that date? 

[TomD8]

The buyer is considered to take ownership on the closing date.  Per the IRS the seller is responsible for the property taxes covering the period up to, but not including, the date of closing.  The buyer is responsible for the property taxes from the date of closing forward.

In your example, I would count 8/30/2017 as the first day of ownership, and 8/29/2019 as the last date of ownership.

[halpalms]

If that is accepted for the example ownership is 730 days. But you also need 730 days of use and I wonder if the calculation is the same and what the odds are of the owner moving in and out on the days of closing.

[TomD8]

With regard to the "use" question, IRS Publication 523 actually says "used it as your residence" for 730 days.  This is to make a distinction between your (primary) residence and, for example, a vacation home.  Publication 523 also states that "a vacation or other short absence counts as time you lived at home."

Since the new home became your primary residence on the date of closing, I would count that date as a day of "use".

If you don't meet the Eligibility Test, you may still qualify for a partial exclusion of gain. You can meet the requirements for a partial exclusion if the main reason for your home sale was a change in workplace location, a health issue, or an unforeseeable event.  See page 6 of Publication 523 for details on this.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p523.pdf

[Critter]

It must be a full 2 years and since you will not own the home on the day of closing simply push the closing until 8/31/19 to get the full 2 year exclusion  IF IF IF  it qualifies as your primary residence ... if not it doesn't matter.