Thursday, March 15, 2012

Tax Free Income from Personal Residence Exclusion

For select qualified individuals with building and remodeling experience, they may use a personal residence strategy to permanently exclude gains from their taxable income.

Many know a taxpayer can exclude a $500,000 gain (or $250,000 for single taxpayers) when they sell their personal residence under IRC 121. This exclusion is available every 2 years.

A taxpayer is required to personally reside on the premises to establish personal residence requirement. If you purchase a house that requires significant remodel, or building a house on a vacant lot, the taxpayer may place a mobile home on the lot to establish residency.

Let's postulate that a taxpayer bought a lot for $50,000 and built a 2000 square foot for a total of $200,000, that has a tax basis of $250,000, and then sells the home for $450,000, resulting in a gain of $200,000 that is not taxed. He or she never has to pay taxes on the $200,000 gain.

This strategy can be repeated every 2 years. This is a real life example of living a tax-free life.

$500,000 Home Sale Tax Exclusion

Last Updated May 2, 2015

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