Sale of home in 2022

[sariewright]

Hello! I currently am retired and my only income is from social security and and a small pension. Because of this I don't file annual income tax. This year, however, I have sold my home and wonder how that will affect my federal income tax. My understanding is that I am exempt from paying Capital Gains Tax since my income is below the threshold for 2022. Do I need to file anything for 2022? Thanks for your help!

[drc845443]

Hello there!

It depends on whether you had a gain or loss on the sale of your house.

If you sold your house for a loss, then there is no impact on your tax situation.

If you sold for a gain, you may qualify to exclude the gain of up to$250,000 of your gain if you're filing as single, head of household, or married filing separately and $500,000 if you're married filing jointly. To qualify for the exclusion, you must meet the following conditions:

1. You owned the home for a total of at least two years.
2. You used the home as your primary residence for a total of at least two years in last five-years before the sale.
3. You haven't excluded the gain from another home sale in the two-year period before the sale.

If you are able to exclude the gain, there will be no impact on your tax situation.

If you do not qualify to exclude the gain, then depending on the magnitude of the gain, you may end up having to file taxes and paying tax on the gain, and also maybe on a portion of your social security income.