Sale of Primary Home

[DBKMain]

Hi! We recently sold our primary home. The profit was far less than the $500,000 limit (married, filing jointly) and we meet the other requirements - lived in home for more than 2 years, etc. We received a 1099 S and when I enter the info in to Turbo Tax (Wages/Income, Less Common Income), it's adding a significant amount that we owe. I'm unclear why this is happening, since we should fall under the taxable limit. Any help is appreciated. 

[DanaB27]

Please answer all questions carefully when entering the sale of your primary home:

1. Login to your TurboTax Account 
2. Click on "Search" on the top right and type “sale of home”
3. Click on “Jump to sale of home”
4. Answer all question carefully
5. If you are successful you should get the "Exclusion of gain" screen 

To clarify, you didn't take a home office deduction or rented out part of your home, correct?

Also, you did not sell another home in the last two 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, or up to $500,000 of that gain if you file a joint return with your spouse. You're eligible for the exclusion if you have owned and used your home as your main home for a period aggregating at least two years out of the five years prior to its date of sale. Generally, you're not eligible for the exclusion if you excluded the gain from the sale of another home during the two-year period prior to the sale of your home. 

[AmeliesUncle]

Some of the questions in the Home Sale section are confusing, so be sure to read things VERY carefully.

Was the home ALWAYS your Main Home as long as you owned it?  Or was it ever used for other purposes, such as renting out (or using it for business)?

[DaveF1006]

It depends.  I like to add more to what AmeliesUncle has just said. You mentioned you lived in the house for 2 years but have you owned at least 5 years before the date of the sale. If the answer is no, this may be the reason why you didn't qualify for the capital gains exclusion.

Also reread those questions carefully and if there were other considerations that AmeiliesUncle mentioned, then these are all reasons why you didn't qualify for the exclusion.

[AmeliesUncle]

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@DaveF1006 wrote:

 You mentioned you lived in the house for 2 years but have you owned at least 5 years before the date of the sale. If the answer is no, this may be the reason why you didn't qualify for the capital gains exclusion.

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There is no need to own it for 5 years.  You only need to own it for 2 years.