 Avoiding
capital gains on a house sale
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 Dear
Tax Talk,
My wife and I sold our home three months shy of the two-year period
because of travel expenses and time to and from work. Also my transfer
to another site location only took me to 48 miles from my house.
When we sold, we had to pay back our second mortgage that was taken
to pay off debt because we had another child on the way.
My profits were cut in half. My total profit was about $85,000,
but I had to pay about $45,000 on the second mortgage. So really
the money in my pocket was only about $40,000. Then when we bought
our new house, we put down $52,000, which included the $40,000 that
I pocketed. Is there anything I can do to eliminate or greatly reduce
the $7,000 to $9,000 I am looking at having to pay in taxes this
year?
-- Andrew
 Dear
Andrew,
Of course, your profit is not affected by the
payment of the second mortgage. And, as you probably already know,
a married couple can exclude up to $500,000 in gain from the sale
of their principal residence. But the couple has to have lived in
and owned the home for two years within the last five years to get
the maximum exclusion.
A lesser amount of gain (approximately $20,000 a month
for every month lived in the home) can be excluded from income when
the two-year minimum is not met but the home was sold due to a change
in place of employment.
A sale for a change in place of employment is considered
to be the reason you sold your home if either of the following is
true:
- The sale qualifies under a "safe harbor."
A safe harbor is a set of certain facts and circumstances that
qualifies you to claim a reduced maximum exclusion.
- The primary reason you sold the home was a change
in place of employment and the facts and circumstances surrounding
the sale support this conclusion.
A safe harbor is met if the new place of employment
is at least 50 miles farther from your home than the former place
of employment was. This 50-mile rule is grounded in the rules that
relate to deductible moving expenses and probably has been around
for 50 or more years. Given today's congested traffic conditions,
the IRS probably should consider adding a time test to this safe
harbor.
However, even though you do not meet the safe harbor
distance test, you can still exclude the gain if the facts surrounding
your move support the conclusion that the move was the result of
a change in place of employment. For example, once you were certain
that the new place of employment was suitable, you listed your home
for sale due to the strain from the commute.
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