We sold a house that we lived in for 13 years in 2019, I don't have the original closing information sheet for the adj cost basis..do I need it?

[JohnW222]

Not necessarily.

When you sell a primary personal residence that you lived in and owned for at least two years in the five year period prior to the date of sale, you don't even have to report the sale if your gains are less than the exclusion amounts of $250,000 (if filing Single) or $500,000 (if filing Married Filing Jointly, when both spouses lived in and owned the home for two years). 

So, if you're very confident that any gain on the sale was less than these amounts, you can get by without the closing information sheet.  Bear in mind, of course, that you'd need to find it in the event that you're audited on this issue.

If the gain was greater than the exclusion amounts, then you'd have to report the sale, and the closing information sheet would be necessary.

To get a copy of your closing information, you might contact

• your real estate agent,
• the seller's real estate agent,
• the settlement agent for the purchase of the home,
• the mortgage broker,
• the financial institution that held the loan for the property, or
• or the seller.