Selling inherited house, Capital gains tax

[Cheryl100]

I and siblings are selling inherited family house to one of the siblings.  A few yrs ago I contributed money to home repairs.  Can that money offset capital gains taxes when I receive my portion of house sale? OR- as a single filer, am I not liable for any taxes if my portion is less than $250k?

[Anonymous_ · Accepted solution]

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@Cheryl100 wrote:

Can that money offset capital gains taxes when I receive my portion of house sale? 

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Repair expenses on property held for personal use are not deductible.

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@Cheryl100 wrote:

....as a single filer, am I not liable for any taxes if my portion is less than $250k?

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You cannot use the home sale exclusion ($250,000 per Section 121) unless you owned the home and used the home as your principal residence for two out of the last five years leading up to the sale.

[Cynthiad66]

No, Repairs do not qualify as capital improvements.  So it will not reduce the capital gains.

You will report your portion of the sale of the property in the investment income section of TurboTax.  Treat the transaction as if its entire value is your 1/3 portion.  (You report 1/3 of the proceeds, 1/3 of the market value as the basis, etc.). 

For inherited property, the holding period will always be "long term," and your cost basis will be the value of the property on the date of death of the original owner (unless the estate elected an alternate valuation date, but this is not common). 

Here are the steps to enter the transaction into TurboTax:

1. Click on Wages & Income.
2. Click on Show more beside Investment Income
3. Click on Start (or revisit) beside Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Other.
4. Click on Add Sales.
5. Answer No for "Did or will you receive a 1099-B...?"  Yes if you did receive.
6. Follow the prompts to enter the sale.  For the type of investment, select "second home" to get the most appropriate questions and categories for your sale.