Selling a home

[gregdawn7]

My wife and I purchased a home in So Cal in 1974 for $56,000 and have lived there since. The current value is about $950,000. In 2017 we purchased a second home in Arizona for $410,000 to use as a vacation home (because 4 of our children lived in AZ) and as an investment in these times of rapid increase in property values.  The current value is about $700,000. Now as my wife and I get older we are thinking of selling the home in CA and permanently moving to AZ.  How does this affect our taxes and how should we go about the sale to minimize any taxes.  Both house are paid for and have no mortgage.

Thank You

[xmasbaby0]

SALE OF HOUSE

If your gain was more than  $250,000 filing Single, or more than $500,000 filing Married Filing Jointly the sale must be reported on your tax return.  Whether you re-invested the gain in to another house is irrelevant.  If you  have a Form 1099-S go to Federal>Wages and Income>Less Common Income>Sale of Home (gain or loss)

If you owned and lived in the home as your primary residence for at least 2 of the last 5 years on the date of the sale, you do not have to report the home sale if the gain is less than $250K filing Single, or less than $500K filing Married Filing Jointly (and you both owned and lived in the home for at least 2 years).

• If you are using online TT, you need Premier or Self-Employed software to report the 1099-S