Second Home Sale

[17678056393]

I sold a second home which was not my primary residence at time of sale.  I did live in the home 22 years and owned it for 38 years.  Does the time the home was owned and fact that it was once primary residence reduce capital gains at all.  

[DoninGA]

Does the time the home was owned and fact that it was once primary residence reduce capital gains at all.  

No.  If you have not lived in and owned the home for at least two years in the five year period on the date of sale, you are not eligible for the home sale exemption.  The sale is reported as an investment sale and any gain on the sale it taxed as capital gains.

[Opus 17]

You can stretch the time requirements if the reason you moved out was due to military or foreign service orders.  The maximum stretch is 10 years, meaning you would have to have lived in the home for 2 years of the past 15.  That seems impossible given the time line you described (moved out 16 years ago).

Otherwise, there are no special capital gains tax breaks for selling second homes or any other kind of asset or property, other than the fact that all long term capital gains are taxed lower than regular income.  The tax code is set up to encourage residential home ownership, and does not give the same breaks to landlords or vacation homes.