Home Sale Tax Calculator

It depends on the gain and eligibility. Section 121 can exclude up to $250,000, or $500,000 for a qualifying joint return, but depreciation, nonqualified use, prior exclusions and other rules can leave taxable gain. Personal-residence losses generally are not deductible.

The usual full limit is $250,000 for an eligible individual and $500,000 for a qualifying joint return. Both spouses generally must meet the residence and look-back tests and at least one must meet ownership. Partial and surviving-spouse rules can differ.

To qualify for the full Section 121 exclusion, you must have owned the home for at least 2 of the 5 years before the sale, and lived in it as your primary residence for at least 2 of those 5 years. The 2 years don't need to be consecutive.

Yes, but generally not more than once every 2 years. If you used the exclusion on a different home sale within the last 2 years, you typically don't qualify for the full exclusion again until that 2-year window passes -- though a qualifying reason (job change, health, unforeseen event) can allow a prorated partial exclusion sooner.

Your original purchase price, plus buying costs (closing costs, title fees) and capital improvements -- a new roof, an addition, a major renovation. Routine repairs and maintenance (painting, fixing a leak) don't count. Basis is reduced by any depreciation claimed for business or rental use and by insurance reimbursements for casualty losses.

No. A loss on the sale of a personal residence is not deductible, unlike a loss on an investment property or on stocks. The IRS treats your home as personal-use property, and losses on personal-use property generally can't offset other income or gains.

A qualifying work, health or unforeseen-event reason may permit a reduced exclusion. The work safe harbor generally compares old and new workplace distances from the sold home, not the distance between two homes. Use the Publication 523 worksheet and the shortest applicable qualifying period.

The same way any other capital gain is: at ordinary income rates if you owned the home a year or less (short-term), or at the preferential 0/15/20% long-term capital gains rates if you owned it more than a year -- plus the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax if your income is high enough.

No, this is a federal estimate only. Nine states have no general income tax -- Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming -- so residents of those states typically owe no state tax on a home sale gain (Washington's separate state capital gains excise tax explicitly exempts direct real estate sales). Many other states tax home sale gains in some form, often as part of ordinary state income tax, but rules vary widely -- check with your state's tax authority or a tax professional for your specific situation.

This model does not net all transactions. Use the actual return worksheets to combine correctly classified gains and losses. Do not enter depreciation-related gain as an ordinary stock gain or automatically treat a short-term sale as long-term.

It accepts entered depreciation and nonqualified-use amounts, but does not calculate the underlying depreciation or allocate a separate business/rental portion. Separate portions, special spouse rules and complex uses require their own worksheets or professional calculation. The rental-sale calculator estimates a different, single-property scenario.

No. For the ordinary joint-filer scenario, the $500,000 exclusion requires the applicable spouse-specific tests. Certain surviving-spouse cases have separate rules. Married filing separately is capped at $250,000, same as a single filer.