turbotax icon
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Announcements
Close icon
Do you have a TurboTax Online account?

We'll help you get started or pick up where you left off.

Sale of rental property

I will be closing on the sale of my former primary home soon.  If the closing happens when scheduled, I will barely qualify for the "2 out of 5 year rule" for home sale.  In between, the house has been rented.  Two questions for clarification:

 

1. I'm presuming I still need to do a Schedule E for the rent received/depreciation/expenses for the part of the year that rent was paid.  Do all the property taxes for the year go on Schedule E, or do they go on itemizable deductions?

 

2. Since it has been rented for almost 3 out of the last 5 years, how do I figure the capital gain--use the adjusted basis or the depreciated value?

x
Do you have an Intuit account?

Do you have an Intuit account?

You'll need to sign in or create an account to connect with an expert.

3 Replies

Sale of rental property

Since it is currently or lastly a rental property you will report the income/expenses on the Sch E and the sale on the form 4797 ... follow the interview screens carefully in the asset section so the sale can be reported properly.  

Carl
Level 15

Sale of rental property

Since the last occupant to move out of the house prior to the sale was a renter, you will be reporting *everything* on the SCH E in the Rental & Royalty Income (SCH E) section of the program. You will not be converting the property back to personal use. Just follow the interview and the program will take care of all the depreciation recapture and other stuff *for you*. But I can't stress enough the importance to ReAd ThE sMaLl PrInt" on each screen before making selections or entering data. The small print matters, big time. Here's the general guidance.

Reporting the Sale of Rental Property

If you qualify for the "lived in 2 of last 5 years" capital gains exclusion, then when prompted you WILL indicate that this sale DOES INCLUDE the sale of your main home. For AD MIL personnel who don't qualify because of PCS orders, select this option anyway, because you "MIGHT" qualify for at last a partial exclusion.

Start working through Rental & Royalty Income (SCH E) "AS IF" you did not sell the property. One of the screens near the start will ahve a selection on it for "I sold or otherwise disposed of this property in  2017". Select it. After you select the "I sold or otherwise disposed of this property in 2017" you continue working it through "as if" you still own it. When you come to the summary screen you will enter all of your rental income and expenses, even it it's zero. Then you MUST work through the "Sale of Assets/Depreciation" section. You must work through each individual asset one at a time to report its disposition (in your case, all your rental assets were sold).

Understand that if more than the property itself is listed in your assets list, then you need to allocate your sales price across all of your assets.  You will only allocate the structure sales price; you will NOT allocate the land sales price, since the land is not a depreciable asset.  Then if you sold this rental at a gain, you must show a gain on all assets, even if that gain is $1. Likewise if you sold at a loss then you must show a loss on all assets, even if that loss is $1

Basically when working through an asset you select the option for "I stopped using this asset in 2017" and go from there. Note that you MUST do this for EACH AND EVERY asset listed.

When you finish working through everything listed in the assets section, if you ever at any time you owned this rental you claimed vehicle expenses, then you must also work through the vehicle section and show the disposition of the vehicle. Most likely, your vehicle disposition will be "removed for personal use", as I seriously doubt you sold your vehicle as a part of this rental sale.

mbahrain
Returning Member

Sale of rental property

is there a glitch in turbo tax, because at the end it flags an error that says assets with a loss disposition cannot be linked to a home sale worksheet, when I remove the link I get charged the capital gains tax

Unlock tailored help options in your account.

message box icon

Get more help

Ask questions and learn more about your taxes and finances.

Post your Question