Frequently Asked Questions About
Capital Gains Taxes
Almost everything you own and use for personal purpose, pleasure or investment property is exception. When you sell a capital asset, such as your home, the difference between the amount you sell it for and your basis, which is usually what you paid for it, is capital gains or capital loss. While you must report all capital gains, you may deduct only your capital losses on investment property, not personal property.
What are short-term vs. long-term capital gains and losses?
Capital gains and losses are classified as long-term and short-term, depending on how long you hold the property before you sell it. If you hold it more than one year, your capital gins or loss is long-term. If you hold it one year or less, your capital gins or loss is short-term.
What is the basis and how is it determined?
You need to know your basis in your home to calculate any gain or loss when you sell it. Your basis is determined by how you acquired your home. If you purchased or built it, your basis is your initial cost. If you acquired it in some other way (inheritance, gift, etc), you must know its adjusted basis to the donor just before it was given to you. You also must know its fair market value (FMV) at the time title was transferred. For more information, log onto www.irs.gov and search for publication 551 (Basis of Assets).
What are the current Capital Gains Rates?
- 15% maximum tax rate for sales completed and installment payments received after May 5, 2003.
- 25% for real estate depreciation recapture treated as capital gains.
- 28% for property held for more than one year but less than 18 months.
If I make a profit from selling my home, do I get to keep any of it tax-free?
As a single homeowner, you can exclude up to $250,000 of capital gains. If you are married filing separately, each of you can exclude up to $250,000. If you are married filing jointly, together you can exclude up to $500,000 of capital gains.
What are the ownership and usage criteria for claiming the exclusion?
To be eligible, you must have owned and lived in your home as your primary residence for a combined period of at least two of the last five years prior to selling or exchanging your principle residence.
What is real estate depreciation recapture?
Depreciation is the decrease in the value of property over the time the property is used. Depreciation recapture is when a property used for business purposes is sold at a gain, if accelerated depreciation has been claimed, you may be required to pay tax at ordinary income rates to the extent of the excess accelerated depreciation.
We own a rental property. If we live in it as our main home for two years, can we sell it and not pay capital gains tax?
You may be able to exclude your allowed amount of capital gains from the sale of your main home that you have also used for business or rental property if you meet the ownership and use criteria outlined in the above paragraph. However, if you took depreciation on your home used for business or rental property, you cannot exclude the part of your gain equal to the depreciation taken or allowable for the periods after May 1997. If you can prove that the depreciation taken was less than the amount allowable, the amount you cannot exclude is the lesser of the two figures. Refer to publication 523 on www.irs.gov for more information.
To learn more about how capital gains tax laws affect the sale or exchange of your main home or investment property, contact your tax specialist or log on to www.irs.gov .