Sold our home in cal in 2023. wife passed in 2021. how do i enter info into tt for the step up basis value for 1040 and cal tax now working in 2024??

[joe_archer_sr]

need where to go in tt  .. which tt should i be using ??

[rjs]

Duplicate question. Please post your question only once. If you want to add more information or post a follow-up question, add a reply to your original question. Do not post separate questions about the same issue. When information is scattered in multiple threads it's confusing and hard to follow, and hard to see the whole picture. If you want to add more information or post a follow-up question, add a reply to your original question.

[MarilynG1]

You don't need to enter the sale of your main home in your tax return, unless you had a capital gain of over 250K on the sale.

If you know the Basis of your Home on the Sale Date (what you paid for it, plus value of Improvements), add Sales Expenses to that, and subtract from Proceeds.

Here's more info on the Home Sale Exclusion. 

[joe_archer_sr]

thanks

bought home in 1999 for 275k

wife passed on 24may2021

sold home in 2023 for 1.5 mil

our trust says we should have step up in home cost basis.

what form in tt do i use to define what the step up cost basis is.

we have 3 estimates for equiv property when wife passwed.

need to know what to do to reach current home basis for sale of property in 2023!!

[KrisD15]

Yes, this is correct.

Because California is a Community Property State, you would get a step-up on both halves of the property. 

Since she passed in May 2021, the value on that date is your 'basis" for the entire home. 

You also get the Home Sale Gain Exclusion, so there might be no Capital Gain on the sale to claim. 

The sale is reported in TurboTax under

Income & Wages

Scroll down to "Less Common Income"

Select START for "Sale of Home" 

As you continue through this interview, you will get to a screen titled "Tell Us About the Purchase of Your Home"

This is where you enter the date you purchased your house and your ADJUSTED COST BASIS 

This is where you will enter the May 2021 value of the property.

The May 2021 value is your adjusted cost basis, TurboTax does not calculate it. 

If you have three estimates of the value when your wife passed, you could take the average and enter that as your adjusted basis. You would also add any improvement you made between May 2021 and the date you sold the home.

Since it has been over two years since your wife passed, and if you have not remarried, you are limited to the 250,000 exclusion of gain. So if the house was worth 1.25M or more in May 2021, there would be no taxable gain. (You also subtract closing costs, such as commissions). 

If you have remarried, you may be allowed the 500,000 exclusion, but that would depend on if your current wife used the exclusion within the last two years. 

Again, your adjusted basis is not a calculation the software does, you enter it.