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           Department of the Treasury                         Contents
           Internal Revenue Service
                                                              Future Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          1
                                                              Reminders    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Publication 523
Cat. No. 15044W                                               Introduction   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
                                                              Does Your Home Sale Qualify for the Exclusion 
                                                              of Gain?       . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Selling                                                       Eligibility Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     3
                                                              Does Your Home Qualify for a Partial Exclusion 
Your Home                                                     of Gain?       . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
                                                              Figuring Gain or Loss        . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
For use in preparing                                          Basis Adjustments—Details and Exceptions . . . . .                         8
                                                              Property Used Partly for Business or Rental                      . . . .   12
2023 Returns
                                                              Business or Rental Use of Home                 . . . . . . . . . . . . .   16
                                                              How Much Is Taxable?           . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   16
                                                              Recapturing Depreciation               . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   17
                                                              Reporting Your Home Sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .               18
                                                              Reporting Gain or Loss on Your Home Sale                         . . . .   18
                                                              Reporting Deductions Related to Your Home 
                                                                    Sale   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
                                                              Reporting Other Income Related to Your 
                                                                    Home Sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        20
                                                              Paying Back Credits and Subsidies                    . . . . . . . . . .   20
                                                              How To Get Tax Help        . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   20
                                                              Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25

                                                              Future Developments
                                                              For  the  latest  information  about  developments  related  to 
                                                              Pub.  523,  such  as  legislation  enacted  after  it  was 
                                                              published, go to IRS.gov/Pub523.

                                                              What’s New
                                                              Home energy tax credits.             Home improvements that use 
                                                              clean energy, or otherwise add to energy efficiency, may 
                                                              qualify for home energy tax credits, which were extended, 
                                                              increased, and/or modified by the Inflation Reduction Act, 
                                                              P. L. 117-169, sections 13301 and 13302. These credits 
                                                              are detailed in  Energy credits and subsidies. See sections 
                                                              25C  and  25D.  For  more  information,  see  IRS  News  Re-
                                                              lease  2023-97,  available  at       IRS.gov/newsroom/irs-going-
                                                              green-could-help-taxpayers-qualify-for-expanded-home-
                                                              energy-tax-credits.

                                                              Reminders
Get forms and other information faster and easier at:
IRS.gov (English)         IRS.gov/Korean (한국어)            Photographs of missing children.                   The IRS is a proud 
IRS.gov/Spanish (Español) IRS.gov/Russian (Pусский)       partner  with  the   National  Center  for  Missing  &  Exploited 
IRS.gov/Chinese (中文)      IRS.gov/Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) 

Feb 7, 2024



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Children® (NCMEC). Photographs of missing children se-           To Get Tax Help section at the end of this publication, go 
lected by the Center may appear in this publication on pa-       to  the  IRS  Interactive  Tax  Assistant  page  at                                   IRS.gov/
ges  that  would  otherwise  be  blank.  You  can  help  bring   Help/ITA  where  you  can  find  topics  by  using  the  search 
these  children  home  by  looking  at  the  photographs  and    feature or viewing the categories listed.
calling 800-THE-LOST (800-843-5678) if you recognize a 
                                                                 Getting  tax  forms,  instructions,  and  publications. 
child.
                                                                 Go to IRS.gov/Forms to download current and prior-year 
Special  rules  for  capital  gains  invested  in  Qualified 
                                                                 forms, instructions, and publications.
Opportunity Funds.   Effective December 22, 2017, sec-
tion 1400Z-2 provides a temporary deferral of inclusion in       Ordering tax forms, instructions, and publications. 
gross  income  for  capital  gains  invested  in  Qualified  Op- Go to IRS.gov/OrderForms to order current forms, instruc-
portunity Funds, and permanent exclusion of capital gains        tions,  and  publications;  call  800-829-3676  to  order 
from the sale or exchange of an investment in the Quali-         prior-year  forms  and  instructions.  The  IRS  will  process 
fied Opportunity Fund if the investment is held for at least     your order for forms and publications as soon as possible. 
10  years.  For  more  information,  see  the  Instructions  for Don’t resubmit requests you’ve already sent us. You can 
Form 8949.                                                       get forms and publications faster online.
Extension  of  the  exclusion  of  canceled  or  forgiven 
mortgage debt from income.   The exclusion of income             Useful Items
for  mortgage  debt  canceled  or  forgiven  was  extended       You may want to see:
through  December  31,  2025.  The  indebtedness  dis-
charged  must  generally  be  on  a  qualified  principal  resi- Publication
dence, and based on an agreement in writing prior to Jan-
                                                                         504 
uary  1,  2026.  See Report  as  ordinary  income  on  Form        504       Divorced or Separated Individuals
1040,  1040-SR,  or  1040-NR  applicable  canceled  or  for-       505   505 Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax
given mortgage debt, later.                                        527   527 Residential Rental Property
                                                                   530   530 Tax Information for Homeowners
                                                                         537 
Introduction                                                       537       Installment Sales
                                                                   544   544 Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets
This publication explains the tax rules that apply when you 
sell or otherwise give up ownership of a home. If you meet         547   547 Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts
certain conditions, you may exclude the first $250,000 of          551   551 Basis of Assets
gain  from  the  sale  of  your  home  from  your  income  and 
avoid  paying  taxes  on  it.  The  exclusion  is  increased  to   587   587 Business Use of Your Home
$500,000 for a married couple filing jointly.                      936   936 Home Mortgage Interest Deduction
  This  publication  also  has  worksheets  for  calculations 
                                                                             4681 
relating to the sale of your home. It will show you how to:        4681           Canceled Debts, Foreclosures, 
                                                                         Repossessions, and Abandonments
1. Figure your maximum exclusion, using Worksheet 1,
                                                                   5797      5797 Home Energy Tax Credits
2. Determine if you have a gain or loss on the sale or ex-
  change of your home, using Worksheet 2,                        Form (and Instructions)
3. Figure how much of any gain is taxable (if any) using           Schedule A (Form 1040)                Schedule A (Form 1040) Itemized Deductions
  Worksheet 3, and                                                 Schedule B (Form 1040)                Schedule B (Form 1040) Interest and Ordinary 
4. Report the transaction correctly on your tax return, us-              Dividends
  ing guidance included in Worksheet 3.                            Schedule D (Form 1040)                                       Schedule D (Form 1040) Capital Gains and Losses
Comments  and  suggestions.  We  welcome  your  com-               982   982 Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of 
ments  about  this  publication  and  suggestions  for  future           Indebtedness (and Section 1082 Basis 
editions.                                                                Adjustment)
  You  can  send  us  comments  through        IRS.gov/            1040      1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
FormComments. Or, you can write to the Internal Revenue 
Service,  Tax  Forms  and  Publications,  1111  Constitution       1040-NR                       1040-NR U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return
Ave. NW, IR-6526, Washington, DC 20224.                            1040-SR               1040-SR U.S. Income Tax Return for Seniors
  Although  we  can’t  respond  individually  to  each  com-
                                                                                  1099-S 
ment  received,  we  do  appreciate  your  feedback  and  will     1099-S                Proceeds From Real Estate Transactions
consider  your  comments  and  suggestions  as  we  revise         4797      4797 Sales of Business Property
our tax forms, instructions, and publications. Don’t send          5405      5405 Repayment of the First-Time Homebuyer 
tax questions, tax returns, or payments to the above ad-
dress.                                                                   Credit
                                                                   6252      6252 Installment Sale Income
  Getting answers to your tax questions.       If you have 
a tax question not answered by this publication or the How         8822      8822 Change of Address

2                                                                                                                                                      Publication 523 (2023)



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    8828       8828 Recapture of Federal Mortgage Subsidy               2. Voter Registration Card,
    8908       8908 Energy Efficient Home Credit                        3. Federal and state tax returns, and
    8949       8949 Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets      4. Driver's license or car registration.
    W-2    W-2 Wage and Tax Statement                                 The home is near:
    W-7    W-7 Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer                  1. Where you work,
           Identification Number
                                                                        2. Where you bank,
                                                                        3. The residence of one or more family members, 
Does Your Home Sale Qualify                                                 and
for the Exclusion of Gain?                                              4. Recreational clubs or religious organizations of 
                                                                            which you are a member.
The tax code recognizes the importance of home owner-                  Finally, the exclusion can apply to many different types 
ship  by  allowing  you  to  exclude  gain  when  you  sell  your     of  housing  facilities.  A  single-family  home,  a  condomin-
main home. To qualify for the maximum exclusion of gain               ium,  a  cooperative  apartment,  a  mobile  home,  and  a 
($250,000 or $500,000 if married filing jointly), you must            houseboat each may be a main home and therefore qual-
meet  the  Eligibility  Test,  explained  later.  To  qualify  for  a ify for the exclusion.
partial  exclusion  of  gain,  meaning  an  exclusion  of  gain 
less than the full amount, you must meet one of the situa-
tions listed in     Does Your Home Qualify for a Partial Exclu-
                                                                      Eligibility Test
sion of Gain, later.
Before  considering  the    Eligibility  Test  or  whether  your      The Eligibility Test determines whether you are eligible for 
home qualifies for a partial exclusion, you should consider           the maximum exclusion of gain ($250,000 or $500,000 if 
some preliminary items.                                               married filing jointly).

Transfer of your home to a spouse or an ex-spouse. 
                                                                      Eligibility Step 1—Automatic 
Generally,  if  you  transferred  your  home  (or  share  of  a 
jointly owned home) to a spouse or ex-spouse as part of a             Disqualification

divorce settlement, you are considered to have no gain or             Determine whether any of the automatic disqualifica-
loss. You have nothing to report from the transfer and this           tions apply.   Your home sale isn’t eligible for the exclu-
entire  publication  doesn’t  apply  to  you.  However,  if  your     sion if ANY of the following are true.
spouse or ex-spouse is a nonresident alien, then you likely 
will have a gain or loss from the transfer and the tests in           You acquired the property through a like-kind ex-
this publication apply.                                                 change (1031 exchange), during the past 5 years. See 
                                                                        Pub. 544, Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets.
Home’s date of sale.    To determine if you meet the Eligi-             You are subject to expatriate tax. For more information 
                                                                      
bility Test or qualify for a partial exclusion, you will need to        about expatriate tax, see chapter 4 of Pub. 519, U.S. 
know the home's date of sale, meaning when you sold it. If              Tax Guide for Aliens.
you  received  Form  1099-S,  Proceeds  From  Real  Estate 
Transactions,  the  date  of  sale  appears  in  box  1.  If  you      If any of these conditions are true, the exclusion doesn’t 
didn’t receive Form 1099-S, the date of sale is either the            apply. Skip to Figuring Gain or Loss, later.
date the title transferred or the date the economic burdens 
and benefits of ownership shifted to the buyer, whichever             Eligibility Step 2—Ownership
date is earlier. In most cases, these dates are the same.
                                                                      Determine whether you meet the ownership require-
Sale of your main home.     You may take the exclusion,               ment. If  you  owned  the  home  for  at  least  24  months  (2 
whether maximum or partial, only on the sale of a home                years) out of the last 5 years leading up to the date of sale 
that is your principal residence, meaning your main home.             (date of the closing), you meet the ownership requirement. 
An  individual  has  only  one  main  home  at  a  time.  If  you     For a married couple filing jointly, only one spouse has to 
own and live in just one home, then that property is your             meet the ownership requirement.
main home. If you own or live in more than one home, then 
you must apply a "facts and circumstances" test to deter-             Eligibility Step 3—Residence
mine which property is your main home. While the most 
important factor is where you spend the most time, other              Determine  whether  you  meet  the  residence  require-
factors  are  relevant  as  well.  They  are  listed  below.  The     ment. If  you  owned  the  home  and  used  it  as  your  resi-
more  of  these  factors  that  are  true  of  a  home,  the  more    dence for at least 24 months of the previous 5 years, you 
likely that it is your main home.                                     meet  the  residence  requirement.  The  24  months  of  resi-
                                                                      dence  can  fall  anywhere  within  the  5-year  period,  and  it 
The address listed on your:
                                                                      doesn't  have  to  be  a  single  block  of  time.  All  that  is  re-
    1. U.S. Postal Service address,                                   quired  is  a  total  of  24  months  (730  days)  of  residence 

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during  the  5-year  period.  Unlike  the  ownership  require-     You or your spouse (or former spouse) used the entire 
ment, each spouse must meet the residence requirement                property as a vacation home or rental after 2008. See 
individually for a married couple filing jointly to get the full     Business or Rental Use of Home.
exclusion.
                                                                   Separated or divorced taxpayers.    If you were separa-
  If you were ever away from home,    you need to de-              ted or divorced prior to the sale of the home, you can treat 
termine  whether  that  time  counts  toward  your  residence      the home as your residence if:
requirement. A vacation or other short absence counts as 
time you lived at home (even if you rented out your home           You are a sole or joint owner, and
while you were gone).                                              Your spouse or former spouse is allowed to live in the 
  If  you  become  physically  or  mentally  unable  to              home under a divorce or separation agreement and 
care  for  yourself, and  you  use  the  residence  as  your         uses the home as his or her main home.
main home for at least 12 months in the 5 years preceding          If  your  home  was  transferred  to  you  by  a  spouse  or 
the sale or exchange, any time you spent living in a care          ex-spouse (whether in connection with a divorce or not), 
facility  (such  as  a  nursing  home)  counts  toward  your       you  can  count  any  time  when  your  spouse  owned  the 
2-year residence requirement, so long as the facility has a        home  as  time  when  you  owned  it.  However,  you  must 
license from a state or other political entity to care for peo-    meet  the  residence  requirement  on  your  own.  If  you 
ple with your condition.                                           owned your home prior to your marriage and after your di-
                                                                   vorce or separation, and your spouse or former spouse is 
Eligibility Step 4—Look-Back                                       not allowed to live in the home under a divorce or separa-
                                                                   tion  agreement,  you  count  any  time  that  you  owned  the 
Determine  whether  you  meet  the  look-back  require-            home solely or jointly with your spouse as time when you 
ment.  If you didn't sell another home during the 2-year           owned  it,  and  you  must  meet  the  residence  requirement 
period before the date of sale (or, if you did sell another        on your own.
home during this period, but didn't take an exclusion of the 
gain earned from it), you meet the look-back requirement.          Surviving spouses.  If you are a surviving spouse who 
You may take the exclusion only once during a 2-year pe-           doesn't meet the 2-year ownership and residence require-
riod.                                                              ments  on  your  own,  consider  the  following  rule.  If  you 
                                                                   haven’t remarried at the time of the sale, then you may in-
Eligibility Step 5—Exceptions to the                               clude any time when your late spouse owned and lived in 
                                                                   the home, even if without you, to meet the ownership and 
Eligibility Test
                                                                   residence requirements. 
There are some exceptions to the Eligibility Test. If any of       Also,  you  may  be  able  to  increase  your  exclusion 
the following situations apply to you, read on to see if they      amount  from  $250,000  to  $500,000.  You  may  take  the 
may  affect  your  qualification.  If  none  of  these  situations higher exclusion if you meet all of the following conditions.
apply, skip to Step 6.                                             1. You sell your home within 2 years of the death of your 
A separation or divorce occurred during the ownership              spouse;
  of the home. See Separated or divorced taxpayers.                2. You haven’t remarried at the time of the sale;
The death of a spouse occurred during the ownership              3. Neither you nor your late spouse took the exclusion 
  of the home. See Surviving spouses.                                on another home sold less than 2 years before the 
The sale involved vacant land. See Vacant land next                date of the current home sale; and
  to home.
                                                                   4. You meet the 2-year ownership and residence re-
You owned a remainder interest, meaning the right to               quirements (including your late spouse's times of 
  own a home in the future, and you sold that right. See             ownership and residence, if applicable).
  Remainder interest.
                                                                   Service, Intelligence, and Peace Corps personnel.      If 
Your previous home was destroyed or condemned.                   you or your spouse are a member of the Uniformed Serv-
  See Home destroyed or condemned—considerations                   ices  or  the  Foreign  Service,  an  employee  of  the  intelli-
  for benefits.                                                    gence  community  of  the  United  States,  or  an  employee, 
You were a service member during the ownership of                enrolled volunteer or volunteer leader of the Peace Corps, 
  the home. See Service, Intelligence, and Peace Corps             you  may  choose  to  suspend  the  5-year  test  period  for 
  personnel.                                                       ownership and residence when you’re on qualified official 
                                                                   extended duty. This means you may be able to meet the 
You acquired or are relinquishing the home in a 
                                                                   2-year residence test even if, because of your service, you 
  like-kind exchange. See Like-kind/1031 exchange.
                                                                   didn’t  actually  live  in  your  home  for  at  least  the  2  years 
You used a portion of the real property, separate from           during the 5-year period ending on the date of sale. Make 
  the living space, for business or rental use, and you            the election by filing your tax return for the year of the sale 
  didn’t use any of the separate portion for residential           or  exchange  of  your  main  home,  and  exclude  the  gain 
  use for 2 years out of the 5 years leading up to the             from your taxable income. 
  sale. See Property Used Partly for Business or Rental.

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Qualified extended duty.    You are on qualified exten-            selling it on August 1, 2023. You choose to use the entire 
ded duty if:                                                       10-year suspension period. Therefore, the suspension pe-
                                                                   riod would extend back from August 1, 2023, to August 2, 
You are called or ordered to active duty for an indefi-
                                                                   2013, and the 5-year test period would extend back to Au-
  nite period, or for a definite period of more than 90 
                                                                   gust 2, 2008. During that period, you owned the house all 
  days.
                                                                   5 years and lived in it as your main home from August 2, 
You are serving at a duty station at least 50 miles from         2008,  until  August  28,  2010,  a  period  of  more  than  24 
  your main home, or you are living in government quar-            months. You meet the ownership and use tests because 
  ters under government orders.                                    you owned and lived in the home for at least 2 years dur-
You are one of the following:                                    ing this test period.

  1. A member of the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air                 Example  2. You  bought  and  moved  into  a  home  in 
  Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard);                  2014. You lived in it as your main home for 3 /  years. For 1 2
                                                                   the next 6 years, you didn’t live in it because you were on 
  2. A member of the commissioned corps of the Na-
                                                                   qualified  official  extended  duty  with  the  Army.  You  then 
  tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
                                                                   sold the home at a gain in 2023. To meet the use test, you 
  (NOAA) or the Public Health Service;
                                                                   choose to suspend the 5-year test period for the 6 years 
  3. A Foreign Service chief of mission, ambassa-                  you were on qualified official extended duty. This means 
  dor-at-large, or officer;                                        you  can  disregard  those  6  years.  Therefore,  your  5-year 
                                                                   test  period  consists  of  the  5  years  before  you  went  on 
  4. A member of the Senior Foreign Service or the                 qualified  official  extended  duty.  You  meet  the  ownership 
  Foreign Service personnel;                                       and use tests because you owned and lived in the home 
  5. An employee, enrolled volunteer, or enrolled vol-             for 3 /  years during this test period.1 2
  unteer leader of the Peace Corps serving outside 
  the United States; or                                            Vacant land next to home. You can include the sale of 
                                                                   vacant land adjacent to the land on which your home sits 
  6. An employee of the intelligence community,                    as part of a sale of your home if ALL of the following are 
  meaning:                                                         true.
  a. The Office of the Director of National Intelli-               You owned and used the vacant land as part of your 
         gence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the                 home.
         National Security Agency, the Defense Intelli-
                                                                   The sale of the vacant land and the sale of your home 
         gence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelli-
                                                                     occurred within 2 years of each other.
         gence Agency, or the National Reconnais-
         sance Office;                                             Both sales either meet the Eligibility Test or qualify for 
                                                                     partial tax benefits, as described earlier.
  b. Any other office within the Department of De-
         fense for the collection of specialized national          Also, if your sale of vacant land meets all these require-
         intelligence through reconnaissance pro-                  ments, you must treat that sale and the sale of your home 
         grams;                                                    as a single transaction for tax purposes, meaning that you 
                                                                   may apply the exclusion only once.
  c. Any of the intelligence elements of the Army, 
         Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Federal Bureau             Note. However, if you move your home from the land 
         of Investigation, Department of the Treasury,             on which it stood (meaning you relocate the actual physi-
         Department of Energy, and Coast Guard;                    cal structure), then that land no longer counts as part of 
                                                                   your home. For example, if you move a mobile home to a 
  d. The Bureau of Intelligence and Research of 
                                                                   new lot and sell the old lot, then you can’t treat the sale of 
         the Department of State; or
                                                                   the old lot as the sale of your home.
  e. Any of the elements of the Department of 
         Homeland Security concerned with the analy-               Home  destroyed  or  condemned—considerations  for 
         ses of foreign intelligence information.                  benefits.   If  an  earlier  home  of  yours  was  destroyed  or 
                                                                   condemned, you may be able to count your time there to-
Period  of  suspension. The  period  of  suspension                ward the ownership and residence test.
can’t last more than 10 years. Together, the 10-year sus-          If your home was destroyed, see Pub. 547, Casualties, 
pension period and the 5-year test period can be as long           Disasters,  or  Thefts.  If  your  home  was  condemned,  see 
as,  but  no  more  than,  15  years.  You  can’t  suspend  the    Pub. 544, Sales and Other Disposition of Assets.
5-year  period  for  more  than  one  property  at  a  time.  You 
can  revoke  your  choice  to  suspend  the  5-year  period  at 
any time.

Example 1.   You bought a home on May 1, 2007. You 
used it as your main home until August 27, 2010. On Au-
gust 28, 2010, you went on qualified official extended duty 
with  the  Navy.  You  didn’t  live  in  the  house  again  before 

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Remainder interest.  The sale of a remainder interest in            for  investment,  or  for  productive  use  in  a  trade  or  busi-
your home is eligible for the exclusion only if both of the         ness. For more information about like-kind exchanges, see 
following conditions are met.                                       Pub. 544.
                                                                    For additional information about the intersection of sec-
The buyer isn’t a “related party.” A related party can be 
                                                                    tions  121  and  1031,  see  Rev.  Proc.  2005-14,  2005-7 
  a related person or a related corporation, trust, part-
                                                                    I.R.B.       528, available    at         IRS.gov/irb/
  nership, or other entity that you control or in which you 
                                                                    2005-07_IRB#RP-2005-14.  Please  note,  however,  that 
  have an interest.
                                                                    any  period  after  2008  during  which  the  property  is  not 
You haven't previously sold an interest in the home for           used as a principal residence is, with certain exceptions, 
  which you took the exclusion.                                     considered  nonqualified  use  of  that  property  for  which 
                                                                    gain allocable to such period may not be excluded, in ac-
Like-kind/1031  exchange.     If  you  sold  a  home  that  you     cordance  with  section  121(b)(5).  This  includes  property 
acquired  in  a  like-kind  exchange,  then  the  following  test   that is separate from the main property and not a part of 
applies.                                                            the living area of the main home that is not used as a prin-
  You can’t claim the exclusion if:                                 cipal residence for a period after 2008. See section 121(b)
1. Either (a) or (b) applies:                                       (5)(C). See also Rev. Proc. 2005-14 for examples that il-
                                                                    lustrate how to allocate basis and gain realized in an ex-
  a. You acquired your home in a like-kind exchange                 change that is also eligible for section 121 exclusion, as 
  (also known as a section 1031 exchange), or                       well as details of depreciation recapture.
  b. Your basis in your home is determined by refer-
  ence to a previous owner's basis, and that previ-                 Eligibility Step 6—Final Determination of 
  ous owner acquired the property in a like-kind ex-                Eligibility
  change (for example, the owner acquired the 
  home and then gave it to you); and                                If  you  meet  the  ownership,  residence,  and  look-back  re-
                                                                    quirements, taking the exceptions into account, then you 
2. You sold the home within 5 years of the date your                meet the Eligibility Test. Your home sale qualifies for the 
  home was acquired in the like-kind exchange.                      maximum exclusion. Skip to Worksheet 1, later.
  A main home is not available for exchange because the 
exchange must be between like-kind real property held for           If  you  didn’t  meet  the  Eligibility  Test,  then  your  home 
productive  use  in  a  trade  or  business  or  for  investment.   isn’t  eligible  for  the  maximum  exclusion,  but  you  should 
Also, real property held primarily for sale is not eligible for     continue  to Does  Your  Home  Qualify  for  a  Partial  Exclu-
deferral  of  gain  under  section  1031.  For  an  exchange  of    sion of Gain.
rental property that was later converted to personal use as 
a main home, there is a 5-year holding period required un-          Does Your Home Qualify for a Partial 
der section 121(d)(10). A separate 2-year holding period            Exclusion of Gain?
is required for exchanges between related persons under 
section 1031(f). See Pub. 544.                                      If you don't meet the Eligibility Test, you may still qualify for 
  If you convert your main home to a rental property (or            a partial exclusion of gain. You can meet the requirements 
use  a  portion  of  the  living  area  for  productive  use  in  a for  a  partial  exclusion  if  the  main  reason  for  your  home 
trade or business as in Rev. Proc. 2005-14, examples 3–             sale was a change in workplace location, a health issue, 
6), the exchange rules under section 1031 and exclusion             or an unforeseeable event.
of income rules under section 121 may both apply.
  If the requirements of both sections 1031 and 121 are             Work-Related Move
met, the section 121 exclusion is applied first to realized 
gain; section 1031 then applies, including any gain attrib-         You meet the requirements for a partial exclusion if any of 
utable  to  depreciation  deductions.  Any  cash  received  in      the following events occurred during your time of owner-
exchange for the rental property is taken into account only         ship and residence in the home.
to the extent the cash exceeds the section 121 excluded 
                                                                    You took or were transferred to a new job in a work lo-
gain on the rental property given up in the exchange. The 
                                                                      cation at least 50 miles farther from the home than 
period before the exchange that is after the last date the 
                                                                      your old work location. For example, your old work lo-
property was used as a main home is not considered non-
                                                                      cation was 15 miles from the home and your new work 
qualified use for purposes of the proration rules of section 
                                                                      location is 65 miles from the home.
121.  To  figure  basis  of  the  property  received  in  the  ex-
change (replacement property), any gain excluded under              You had no previous work location and you began a 
section  121  is  added  to  your  basis  of  your  replacement       new job at least 50 miles from the home.
property, similar to the treatment of recognized gain. You          Either of the above is true of your spouse, a co-owner 
can’t  convert  the  replacement  property  to  a  main  home         of the home, or anyone else for whom the home was 
immediately  after  the  exchange  per  section  1031(a)(1),          her or his residence.
which  requires  that  replacement  property  be  held  either 

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Health-Related Move                                               1. Died;
You meet the requirements for a partial exclusion if any of       2. Became divorced or legally separated, or were is-
the  following  health-related  events  occurred  during  your    sued a separate decree to pay maintenance (sup-
time of ownership and residence in the home.                      port) to the other spouse;
You moved to obtain, provide, or facilitate diagnosis,          3. Gave birth to two or more children from the same 
  cure, mitigation, or treatment of disease, illness, or in-      pregnancy;
  jury for yourself or a family member.                           4. Became eligible for unemployment compensation;
You moved to obtain or provide medical or personal              5. Became unable, because of a change in employ-
  care for a family member suffering from a disease, ill-         ment status, to pay basic living expenses for the 
  ness, or injury. A family member includes your:                 household (including expenses for food, clothing, 
  1. Parent, grandparent, stepmother, stepfather;                 housing, medication, transportation, taxes, 
                                                                  court-ordered payments, and expenses reasona-
  2. Child (including adopted child, eligible foster 
                                                                  bly necessary for making an income).
  child, and stepchild), grandchild;
                                                                  6. An event is determined to be an unforeseeable 
  3. Brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half 
                                                                  event in IRS published guidance.
  brother, half sister;
  4. Mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sis-         Other Facts and Circumstances
  ter-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law;
                                                                Even  if  your  situation  doesn’t  match  any  of  the  standard 
  5. Uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece.
                                                                requirements described above, you still may qualify for an 
A doctor recommended a change in residence for you            exception. You may qualify if you can demonstrate the pri-
  because you were experiencing a health problem.               mary reason for sale, based on facts and circumstances, 
The above is true of your spouse, a co-owner of the           is  work  related,  health  related,  or  unforeseeable.  Impor-
  home, or anyone else for whom the home was his or             tant factors are:
  her residence.                                                The situation causing the sale arose during the time 
                                                                  you owned and used your property as your residence.
Unforeseeable Events                                              You sold your home not long after the situation arose.
                                                                
You meet the standard requirements if any of the following      You couldn’t have reasonably anticipated the situation 
events  occurred  during  the  time  you  owned  and  lived  in   when you bought the home.
the home you sold.
                                                                You began to experience significant financial difficulty 
Your home was destroyed or condemned.                           maintaining the home.
Your home suffered a casualty loss because of a natu-         The home became significantly less suitable as a 
  ral or man-made disaster or an act of terrorism. (It            main home for you and your family for a specific rea-
  doesn’t matter whether the loss is deductible on your           son.
  tax return.)
You, your spouse, a co-owner of the home, or anyone 
  else for whom the home was her or his residence:

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Worksheet 1. Find Your Exclusion Limit                                                    Keep for Your Records
  Use this worksheet only if no automatic disqualifications apply, and take all exceptions into account.
A) Determine if you are eligible for the maximum exclusion limit.
Status     You are eligible for the maximum exclusion if...                     Maximum  If you’re not eligible for 
                                                                                exclusion the maximum exclusion 
                                                                                          limit, then you should…
Married    Both spouses meet the residence and look-back requirements  $500,000           Determine if either spouse is 
filing jointly  and one or both spouses meet the ownership requirement.                   eligible for the full limit as a 
                                                                                          single person. If not, 
                                                                                          determine if either spouse is 
                                                                                          eligible for a partial 
                                                                                          exclusion. 
Single,    You meet the residence, ownership, and look-back                     $250,000  Determine if you are eligible 
married    requirements.                                                                  for a partial exclusion. 
filing 
separately 
Surviving  1. You sell your home within 2 years of the death of your            $500,000  Determine if you are eligible 
spouse      spouse.                                                                       for the full limit as a single 
                                                                                          person. If not, determine if 
           2. You haven't remarried at the time of the sale.                              you are eligible for a partial 
           3. Neither you nor your late spouse took the exclusion on                      exclusion. 
            another home sold less than 2 years before the date of the 
            current home sale. 
           4. You meet the 2-year ownership and residence 
            requirements (including your late spouse's times of 
            ownership and residence, if applicable).
B) Complete this section only if you have determined that you aren’t eligible for the maximum exclusion but 
are eligible for a partial exclusion. If you are eligible for a partial exclusion, use this section to determine 
your exclusion limit. 
Step 1     Determine the shortest of the following 3 periods:
           1. Your time of residence in the home during the 5-year period leading up to the sale  . . . .                                             
           2. Your time of ownership of the home leading up to the sale  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                        
           3. The time that has elapsed between the sale and the date you last sold a home for which 
           you took the exclusion, if applicable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Step 2     Take the smallest period from Step 1 (you may use days or months) and divide that number 
           by 730 (if using days) or 24 (if using months) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .         
Step 3     Multiply the result from Step 2 by $250,000. This is the amount of your reduced exclusion. 
           For married filing jointly, continue to step 4.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .       
Step 4     Repeat Steps 1–3 for your spouse and add the two results  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                          
C) Your exclusion limit is $___________. Only gain in excess of this amount is taxable, unless you have gain from 
full or partial business or rental use. For partial use as a business or rental, see Property Used Partly for Business or 
Rental. For use of the entire property for business, rental, vacation, or any other use (other than personal use as a 
main home), see Business or Rental Use of Home. 
                                                                 A positive number indicates a gain; a negative number 
                                                                 indicates a loss.
Figuring Gain or Loss
                                                                 Certain events during your ownership, such as use of 
To figure the gain or loss on the sale of your main home,        your home for business purposes or your making improve-
you must know the selling price, the amount realized, and        ments  to  it,  can  affect  your  gain  or  loss.  They  are  ex-
the  adjusted  basis.  Subtract  the  adjusted  basis  from  the plained in this section.
amount realized to get your gain or loss.                        See Worksheet 2, later, for steps you should follow to 
                                                                 figure your gain or loss.
            Selling price
           − Selling expenses                                    Basis Adjustments—Details and 
            Amount realized                                      Exceptions
           − Adjusted basis
            Gain or loss                                         You should include many, but not all, costs associated with 
                                                                 the purchase and maintenance of your home in the basis 

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of your home. For more information on determining basis,      6. Legal fees directly connected with building the 
see Pub. 551, Basis of Assets.                                     house.

Fees and Closing Costs                                      Your  cost  includes  your  down  payment  and  any  debt 
                                                            such as a first or second mortgage or notes you gave the 
Some settlement fees and closing costs you can include      seller or builder. It also includes certain settlement or clos-
in your basis are:                                          ing costs. In addition, you must generally reduce your ba-
                                                            sis by points the seller paid you.
Abstract fees (abstract of title fees),
                                                            If you built all or part of your house yourself, its basis is 
Charges for installing utility services,
                                                            the total amount it cost you to complete it. Don’t include in 
Legal fees (including fees for the title search and pre-  the cost of the house:
  paring the sales contract and deed),
                                                            The value of your own labor, or
Recording fees,
                                                            The value of any other labor for which you didn’t pay.
Survey fees,
                                                            Costs  owed  by  the  seller  that  you  paid. You  can  in-
Transfer or stamp taxes, and
                                                            clude in your basis any amounts the seller owes that you 
Owner's title insurance.                                  agree to pay (as long as the seller doesn’t reimburse you), 
                                                            such as:
Settlement  costs  don’t  include  amounts  placed  in  es-
crow for the future payment of items such as taxes and in-  Any real estate taxes owed up through the day before 
                                                              the sale date,
surance.
                                                            Back interest owed by the seller,
Some  settlement  fees  and  closing  costs  you  can’t  in-
                                                            The seller's title recording or mortgage fees,
clude in your basis are:
                                                            Charges for improvements or repairs that are the sell-
Fire and casualty insurance premiums,
                                                              er's responsibility (for example, lead paint removal), 
Rent for occupancy of the house before closing,             and
Charges for utilities or other services related to occu-  Sales commissions (for example, payment to the sell-
  pancy of the house before closing,                          er's real estate agent).
Any fee or cost that you deducted as a moving ex-
  pense (allowed for certain fees and costs before          Improvements
  1994),
                                                            Improvements add to the value of your home, prolong its 
Charges connected with getting a mortgage loan,           useful life, or adapt it to new uses. You add the cost of ad-
  such as:                                                  ditions and improvements to the basis of your property.

  1. Mortgage insurance premiums (including funding         The  following  chart  lists  some  examples  of  improve-
      fees connected with loans guaranteed by the De-       ments.
      partment of Veterans Affairs),
  2. Loan assumption fees,
  3. Cost of a credit report,
  4. Fee for an appraisal required by a lender,
  5. Points (discount points, loan origination fees), and
Fees for refinancing a mortgage.

Construction.  If you contracted to have your house built 
on the land you own, your basis is:
The cost of the land, plus
The amount it cost you to complete the house, includ-
  ing:
  1. The cost of labor and materials,
  2. Any amounts paid to a contractor,
  3. Any architect's fees,
  4. Building permit charges,
  5. Utility meter and connection charges, and

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Examples of Improvements That                                       your  home  is  damaged,  increase  your  basis  by  the 
Increase Basis                                                      amount you spend on repairs that restore the property to 
Keep for Your Records                                               its pre-casualty condition. However, you must adjust your 
                                                                    basis by any amount of insurance reimbursement you re-
Additions                     Systems                               ceive or expect to receive for casualty losses. See  Work-
Bedroom                       Heating system                        sheet 2, line 5.
Bathroom                      Central air conditioning
Deck                          Furnace                               Energy  credits  and  subsidies. If  you  included  in  your 
                                                                    basis the cost of any energy-related improvements (such 
Garage                        Duct work
                                                                    as a solar energy system), and you received any tax cred-
Porch                         Central humidifier
                                                                    its or subsidies related to those improvements, you must 
Patio                         Central vacuum
                                                                    subtract those credits or subsidies from your total basis. 
                              Air/water filtration systems          Examples include:
                              Wiring
                              Security system                       1977–1987: Credit for home energy improvements,
Lawn & Grounds                Lawn sprinkler system                 1992–present: Direct or indirect subsidy from a public 
Landscaping                                                           utility for installations or modifications aimed at lower-
Driveway                                                              ing a home's electricity or natural gas usage or better 
Walkway                                                               managing its energy demand,
Fence                                                                 2006–present: Credit for home energy efficiency im-
                                                                    
Retaining wall                                                        provements,
Swimming pool
                                                                    2006–present: Credit for qualified solar electric prop-
                                                                      erty expenditures, qualified solar water heating prop-
Exterior                      Plumbing
                                                                      erty expenditures, and qualified battery storage prop-
Storm windows/doors           Septic system                           erty expenditures,
New roof                      Water heater
New siding                    Soft water system                     2006–2007, 2009–present: Credit for energy improve-
Satellite dish                Filtration system                       ments to non-business properties (windows, skylights, 
                                                                      exterior doors, heat pump, waterheater, biomass 
Insulation                    Interior                                stoves, and boilers), and
Attic                         Built-in appliances                   2023–2032: Credit for home energy audits, involving 
Walls                         Kitchen modernization                   an inspection and written report for a main home loca-
Floors                        Flooring                                ted in the United States (within the meaning of section 
Pipes and duct work           Wall-to-wall carpeting                  121), as conducted and prepared by a certified home 
                              Fireplace                               energy auditor.

Repairs  done  as  part  of  larger  project. You  can  in-         Home Acquired Through a Trade
clude repair-type work if it is done as part of an extensive 
remodeling or restoration job. For example, replacing bro-          Traded for another home.   When you trade your home 
ken windowpanes is a repair, but replacing the same win-            for a new one, you are treated as having sold your home 
dow  as  part  of  a  project  of  replacing  all  the  windows  in and purchased a new one. Your sale price is the trade-in 
your home counts as an improvement.                                 value  you  received  for  your  home  plus  any  mortgage  or 
                                                                    other debt that the person taking your home as a trade-in 
Examples  of  improvements  you  CAN’T  include  in                 assumed (took over) from you as part of the deal.
your basis. You can’t include:
                                                                    Traded for other property. If you paid for your home by 
 Any costs of repairs or maintenance that are neces-              trading  other  property  for  it,  the  starting  basis  of  your 
   sary to keep your home in good condition but don’t               home is usually the fair market value of the property you 
   add to its value or prolong its life. Examples include           traded.
   painting (interior or exterior), fixing leaks, filling holes 
   or cracks, or replacing broken hardware.                         Home Foreclosed, Repossessed, or 
 Any costs of any improvements that are no longer part            Abandoned
   of your home (for example, wall-to-wall carpeting that 
   you installed but later replaced).                               If  your  home  was  foreclosed  on,  repossessed,  or  aban-
 Any costs of any improvements with a life expectancy,            doned, you may have ordinary income, gain, or loss. See 
   when installed, of less than 1 year.                             Pub.  4681,  Canceled  Debts,  Foreclosures,  Reposses-
                                                                    sions, and Abandonments.
 Exception.    The  entire  job  is  considered  an  improve-
ment if items that would otherwise be considered repairs             If you used part of your home for business or rental pur-
are done as part of an extensive remodeling or restoration          poses, see Foreclosures and Repossessions in chapter 1 
of  your  home.  For  example,  if  you  have  a  casualty  and     of Pub. 544, for examples of how to figure gain or loss.

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Home Destroyed or Condemned                                       Table 1. Exceptions to Using a Donor's 
                                                                  Adjusted Basis for a Home Received as a 
You  have  a  disposition  when  your  home  is  destroyed  or 
                                                                  Gift
condemned  and  you  receive  other  property  or  money  in 
payment,  such  as  insurance  or  a  condemnation  award.        IF...           AND...                 THEN...
This is treated as a sale and you may be able to exclude 
                                                                  at the time of  your usage of the      you must use the fair market 
all or part of any gain that you have. If your home was de-       the gift, the   donor’s adjusted       value of the home at the time 
stroyed, see Pub. 547. If your home was condemned, see            donor’s         basis as your basis    of the gift as your basis (if 
Pub. 544.                                                         adjusted basis  results in a loss,     using the fair market value 
                                                                  in the home                            results in a gain for you, then 
Home Received in Divorce                                          was more than                          you don’t need to recognize 
                                                                  the home’s fair                        that gain). 
Home  acquired  after  July  18,  1984. If  your  former          market value,
spouse  was  the  sole  owner,  your  starting  basis  is  the    at the time of  the donor paid gift    you figure your basis by 
same as your former spouse's adjusted basis just before           the gift, the   tax on the gift of the starting with the donor’s 
you  received  the  home.  If  you  co-owned  the  home  with     donor’s         home,                  adjusted basis at the time of 
                                                                  adjusted basis                         the gift and adding the federal 
your  spouse,  add  the  adjusted  basis  of  your  spouse's      in the home                            gift tax paid due to the 
half-share in the home to the adjusted basis of your own          was less than                          increase in value of the home 
half-share to get your starting basis. (In most cases, the        the home’s fair                        (see Regulations section 
adjusted  basis  of  the  two  half-shares  will  be  the  same.) market value,                          1.1015-5 for further details on 
The  rules  apply  whether  or  not  you  received  anything  in                                         this calculation). 
exchange for the home.
Home acquired on or before July 18, 1984.           Your start-   Home Inherited
ing basis will usually be the home's fair market value at the 
                                                                  Home acquired from a decedent who died before or 
time you acquired it from your spouse or ex-spouse.
                                                                  after  2010.   If  you  inherited  your  home  from  a  decedent 
For more information, see Pub. 504, Divorced or Sepa-
                                                                  who died before or after 2010, your basis is the fair market 
rated Individuals. If you or your spouse or ex-spouse lived 
                                                                  value of the property on the date of the decedent's death 
in a community property state, see Pub. 555, Community 
                                                                  (or  the  later  alternate  valuation  date  chosen  by  the  per-
Property.
                                                                  sonal representative of the estate). If a federal estate tax 
                                                                  return  (Form  706)  was  filed  or  required  to  be  filed,  the 
Home Received as a Gift                                           value of the property listed on the estate tax return is your 
                                                                  basis. If Form 706 didn’t have to be filed, your basis in the 
If you received your home as a gift, you should keep re-
                                                                  home  is  the  same  as  its  appraised  value  at  the  date  of 
cords of the date you received it. Record the adjusted ba-
                                                                  death,  for  purposes  of  state  inheritance  or  transmission 
sis of the donor at the time of the gift and the fair market 
                                                                  taxes. See section 1014 for details.
value of the home at the time of the gift. Also ask if the do-
nor paid any gift tax. As a general rule, you will use the do-    Surviving spouse.      If you are a surviving spouse and 
nor’s adjusted basis at the time of the gift as your basis.       you owned your home jointly, your basis in the home will 
However,  see  Table  1  below  to  determine  if  any  excep-    change. The new basis for the interest your spouse owned 
tions to this rule listed in the “IF” column apply.               will be its fair market value on the date of death (or alter-
                                                                  nate valuation date). The basis in your interest will remain 
                                                                  the same. Your new basis in the home is the total of these 
                                                                  two amounts.
                                                                  If you and your spouse owned the home either as ten-
                                                                  ants by the entirety or as joint tenants with right of survi-
                                                                  vorship,  you  will  each  be  considered  to  have  owned 
                                                                  one-half of the home.

                                                                  Example.        Your  jointly  owned  home  (owned  as  joint 
                                                                  tenants with right of survivorship) had an adjusted basis of 
                                                                  $50,000 on the date of your spouse's death, and the fair 
                                                                  market value on that date was $100,000. Your new basis 
                                                                  in the home is $75,000 ($25,000 for one-half of the adjus-
                                                                  ted  basis  plus  $50,000  for  one-half  of  the  fair  market 
                                                                  value).
                                                                  Community  property.   In  community  property  states 
                                                                  (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mex-
                                                                  ico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin), each spouse is 
                                                                  usually considered to own half of the community property. 
                                                                  When either spouse dies, the total fair market value of the 

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community property becomes the basis of the entire prop-               date  of  the  sale.  If  you  do  not  meet  the  use  test  for  the 
erty, including the part belonging to the surviving spouse.            separate business or rental part of the property, an alloca-
For  this  rule  to  apply,  at  least  half  the  value  of the  com- tion of the gain on the sale is required. For this purpose, 
munity  property  interest  must  be  includible  in  the  dece-       you  must  allocate  the  basis  of  the  property  and  the 
dent's gross estate, whether or not the estate must file a             amount realized between the residential and nonresiden-
return.                                                                tial portions of the property using the same method of allo-
For  more  information  about  community  property,  see               cation  that  you  used  to  determine  depreciation  adjust-
Pub. 555, Community Property.                                          ments.  Report  the  sale  of  the  business  or  rental  part  on 
                                                                       Form 4797. Note that space formerly used as business or 
        If you are selling a home in which you acquired an 
                                                                       rental will qualify for exclusion under section 121 if the use 
!       interest  from  a  decedent  who  died  in  2010,  see         was  converted  to  personal  use  for  a  total  of  2  years,  as 
CAUTION Pub.  4895,  Tax  Treatment  of  Property  Acquired 
                                                                       long as the personal use was within the 5 years leading up 
From a Decedent Dying in 2010, available at IRS.gov/pub/
                                                                       to the sale. See Regulations section 1.121-1(a).
irs-prior/p4895--2011.pdf, to determine your basis.
                                                                       Business  or  rental  usage  calculations. If  you  use 
                                                                       property  partly  as  a  home  and  partly  for  business  or  to 
Property Used Partly for Business or 
                                                                       produce rental income, and the business or rental portion 
Rental                                                                 is not within the home’s living area, you need to make sep-
                                                                       arate  gain/loss  calculations  for  the  business  and  resi-
Calculation.  If  you  use  property  partly  as  a  home  and 
                                                                       dence portions of your property. Make three copies of all 
partly for business or to produce rental income, the treat-
                                                                       pages of Worksheet 2. Label one copy “Total,” one copy 
ment of any gain on the sale depends partly on whether 
                                                                       “Home,” and one copy “Business or Rental.”
the business or rental part of the property is part of your 
                                                                       Complete  your  “Total”  worksheet  using  the  figures  for 
home or separate from it. Treatment of any gain also de-
                                                                       your property as a whole. Include the total amount you re-
pends  on  the  use  during  the  5  years  leading  up  to  the 
                                                                       ceived, all of your basis adjustments, etc. Include the cost 
sale. To figure the portion of the gain allocated to the pe-
                                                                       of all improvements, whether you made them to the busi-
riod  of  nonresidential  use,  see Business  or  rental  usage 
                                                                       ness space or the residential space.
calculations, later. See also Worksheet 2.
                                                                       Determine your “business or rental percentage,” mean-
Space within the living area.       If the part of your property       ing the percentage of your property that you used for busi-
used  for  business  or  to  produce  rental  income  is  within       ness or rental. If you were entitled to take depreciation de-
your home, such as a room used as a home office for a                  ductions  because  you  used  a  portion  of  your  home  for 
business, you do not need to allocate gain on the sale of              business purposes or as rental property, you can’t exclude 
the  property  between  the  business  part  of  the  property         the part of your gain equal to any depreciation allowed or 
and the part used as a home. In addition, you do not need              allowable as a deduction for periods after May 6, 1997.
to report the sale of the business or rental part on Form              If you used part of your home for business or rental af-
4797. This is true whether or not you were entitled to claim           ter May 6, 1997, you may need to pay back (“recapture”) 
any depreciation. However, you cannot exclude the part of              some or all of the depreciation you were entitled to take on 
any gain equal to any depreciation allowed or allowable af-            your property. “Recapturing” depreciation means you must 
ter May 6, 1997, which must be recaptured and reported                 include it as ordinary income on your tax return. If you took 
as ordinary income under section 1250(b)(3). Other exam-               depreciation  on  your  home  on  past  tax  returns,  use  the 
ples of space within the living area include a rented spare            same business or rental percentage that you used in de-
bedroom and attic space used as a home office.                         termining how much depreciation to take. If you didn’t take 
                                                                       depreciation on your home on past tax returns, compare 
Space  separate  from  the  living  area.   You  generally             the size of your business or rental space to the size of the 
can’t exclude gain on the separate portion of your property            whole property and express this as a percentage. For ex-
used  for  business  or  to  produce  rental  income.  Regula-         ample,  if  you  have  a  building  with  three  equal-sized  sto-
tions section 1.121-1(e) provides that the use of a sepa-              ries, and you live in the top two stories and use the ground 
rate portion of your home for business or rental purposes              floor for a store, then you are using  /  of the property and 1 3
does not qualify for exclusion under section 121, and this             your business percentage is 33.3%.
may affect your gain or loss calculations. See Regulations             For each number on your “Total” worksheet, figure the 
section 1.121-1(e). Examples are:                                      business-related  portion  of  that  number  and  enter  it  on 
                                                                       your “Business or Rental” worksheet. You may use differ-
 A working farm on which your house was located,
                                                                       ent methods to determine the business portion of different 
 A duplex in which you lived in one unit and rented the              numbers.  Here  are  the  three  possible  methods  and  the 
   other, or                                                           circumstances under which each method applies.
 A store building with an upstairs apartment in which                Dollar-amount method. Where a figure consists of 
   you lived.                                                            specific dollar amounts that relate to either the resi-
You  can’t  exclude  gain  on  the  separate  part  of  your             dence portion or the business portion of the property, 
property  used  for  business  or  to  produce  rental  income           the figure must be broken down by these dollar 
unless you owned and lived in that part of your property                 amounts. For example, if the figure for improvements 
for at least 2 years during the 5-year period ending on the              to the property was $100,000, and all of that applied to 

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  the residence portion, then the business portion of the         non-residential purposes for more than 3 years during the 
  improvements would be zero.                                     5-year period preceding the sale. Stacey uses the entire 
“100% rule” for depreciation. The first item under              house and the remaining 7 acres as a principal residence 
  line 5a in Worksheet 2 is a business depreciation item.         for at least 2 years during the 5-year period preceding the 
  Any figure for this item is 100% a business figure.             sale. For periods after May 6, 1997, Stacey claims depre-
                                                                  ciation deductions of $9,000 for the non-residential use of 
Percentage method. Where a figure applies to the                the stable. Stacey sells the entire property in 2014, realiz-
  property as a whole (such as the sale price), the busi-         ing a gain of $24,000. Stacey has no other section 1231 or 
  ness or rental portion is the figure multiplied by the          capital gains or losses for 2014.
  business portion percentage you calculated earlier.             Because the stable and the 28 acres used in the busi-
  Use the percentage method for all items that don’t re-          ness  are  separate  from  the  dwelling  unit,  the  allocation 
  quire the dollar-amount or depreciation methods.                rules  apply  and  Stacey  must  allocate  the  basis  and 
The total you get on line 7 on your “Business” copy of            amount realized between the portion of the property used 
Worksheet 2 is the gain or loss related to the business or        as  a  principal  residence  and  the  portion  used  for 
rental portion of the property you sold.                          non-residential purposes based on their respective FMVs. 
Next, complete your “Home” worksheet. For each num-               Stacey  creates  three  copies  of  Worksheet  2  and  titles 
ber, take the number from your “Total” worksheet, subtract        them “Business or Rental,” “Home,” and “Total” to allocate 
the  number  from  your  “Business  or  Rental”  worksheet,       basis and the amount realized for the different uses of the 
and enter the result in your “Home” worksheet (for exam-          property.
ple,  subtract  the  number  on  line  1f  of  the  "Business  or Stacey determines that $14,000 of the gain is allocable 
Rental" worksheet from the number on line 1f of your "To-         to the non-residential-use portion of the property by com-
tal" worksheet), and enter the result on your "Home" work-        pleting  the  copy  of  Worksheet  2  entitled  “Business  or 
sheet.                                                            Rental.” Stacey determines that $10,000 of the gain is allo-
Now  figure  the  totals  on  your  “Home”  worksheet.  The       cable to the portion of the property used as a residence by 
total you get on line 7 on the “Home” copy of Worksheet 2         completing the copy of Worksheet 2 entitled “Home.” Sta-
is the gain or loss related to the home portion of the prop-      cey  must  recognize  the  $14,000  of  gain  allocable  to  the 
erty you sold.                                                    non-residential-use  portion  of  the  property  ($9,000  of 
Review  the  results  of  your  “Home”  and  “Business”           which  is  unrecaptured  section  1250  gain,  and  $5,000  of 
worksheets to determine your next step. When you have             which is adjusted net capital gain). Stacey reports gain as-
completed  each  worksheet,  you  will  know  whether  you        sociated with the non-residential-use portion of the prop-
have a gain or loss on each part of your property. It is pos-     erty  on  Form  4797.  Stacey  may  have  to  complete  Form 
sible to have a gain on both parts, a loss on both parts, or      8949 and Schedule D (Form 1040). See the Instructions 
a gain on one part and a loss on the other. For more infor-       for Form 4797, Form 8949, and Schedule D (Form 1040).
mation about using any part of your home for business or          Stacey transfers the gain from the “Home” worksheet to 
as a rental property, see Pub. 587, Business Use of Your          Worksheet 3, reviews the maximum amount available for 
Home, and Pub. 527, Residential Rental Property.                  exclusion as figured on Worksheet 1, and determines that 
                                                                  the $10,000 gain from the residence portion is less than 
       For detailed information about figuring and report-
                                                                  the  maximum  amount  available  for  exclusion  from  Work-
TIP    ing depreciation associated with the business or           sheet 1. The $10,000 gain on the property may be exclu-
       rental use of your home, see Pub. 527.
                                                                  ded.
Complete Worksheet 2. Then see Table 2 to determine 
your next steps.                                                  Worksheet 2 is used to figure the adjusted basis of your 
                                                                  home and your gain or (loss). You will figure your taxable 
Example.     The following example demonstrates sepa-             gain (if any), on Worksheet 3, later.
rate calculations for business and residential uses.
Stacey owns property that consists of a house, a stable 
and  35  acres.  Stacey  uses  the  stable  and  28  acres  for 

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Worksheet 2. How To Figure Your Gain or Loss                                          Keep for Your Records

DO NOT use this worksheet to determine your basis if you acquired an interest in your home from a decedent who 
died in 2010 and whose executor filed Form 8939. See Home acquired from a decedent who died before or after 2010.
If you have questions as you work through these step-by-step instructions, or want examples of costs that can and 
can’t be included, see Basis Adjustments—Details and Exceptions.
 If married filing jointly, figure gain or loss for both spouses together. If single or married filing separately, 
   figure gain or loss as an individual.
 If the home you sold had multiple owners, your gain or loss is the gain or loss on the entire sale multiplied by 
   your percentage of ownership. 
 If you used any portion of the property for business or rental purposes, see Property Used Partly for 
   Business or Rental. See also Business or Rental Use of Home.
1. Determine the sale price. This is everything you received for selling your home.
   a. All money (currency, check, wire transfer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                            a.  
   b. The fair market value of any other property or services you received . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                  b.  
   c. The value of any notes, mortgages, or other debts that the buyer agreed to assume (take over) 
      as part of the sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .       c.  
   d. Any real estate taxes the buyer paid on your behalf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                   d.  
   e. Any amount you received for granting an option to buy your home, if the option was 
      exercised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e.  
   f. Add lines 1a through 1e. This is your sale price  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                 f.  
      If you received payment for personal property, DON’T include it in the sale price.
      If you received payment or reimbursement from your employer because of a job 
        transfer, DON’T include the payment as part of the selling price. Your employer will include 
        it as wages in box 1 of your Form W-2.
      If you received Form 1099-S, the gross proceeds for the sale price should appear in 
        box 2. If box 4 is checked, the sale price included non-cash payments, and you need to 
        determine the value of these and add them to the figure in box 2.
      If you didn’t receive Form 1099-S, refer to your real estate transaction documents for 
        the total amount you received for your home.
2. Determine your selling expenses. These are the costs directly associated with selling your home.
   a. Any sales commissions (for example, a real estate agent's sales commission) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                             a.  
   b. Any advertising fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .          b.  
   c. Any legal fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    c.  
   d. Any mortgage points or other loan charges you paid that would normally have been the buyer's 
      responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    d.  
   e. Any other fees or costs to sell your home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                           e.  
   f. Add lines 2a through 2e. These are your selling expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                              f.  
3. Figure your “amount realized” (sale price minus selling expenses).
      Line 1f minus line 2f  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        3.  
4. Determine your “total basis” (the total amount you invested in your home). This includes what you paid 
   for your home as well as other money you may have spent that added to its value.
   a. The amount you paid for your home (or if you built your home, the cost of the land). Include any 
      down payment and any amount you borrowed to pay for the home. For cooperative 
      apartments, include the value of the corporation stock you purchased. If you acquired your 
      home through inheritance, gift, bargain sale, trade, or anything except a fair market purchase, 
      see Basis Adjustments—Details and Exceptions      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                 a.  
   b. Any settlement fees or closing costs you paid when you bought your home, except for 
      financing-related costs (such as seller-paid points). The settlement statement should list the 
      fees related to buying the home. See Basis Adjustments—Details and Exceptions and Fees 
      and Closing Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .         b.  
   c. Any real estate taxes or other costs you paid on behalf of the seller you bought your home from 
      (and for which the seller never paid you back) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                              c.  
   d. Any amounts you spent on construction or other improvements that are still part of your home 
      at the time of sale (not including costs of maintenance and repairs). See Basis 
      Adjustments—Details and Exceptions    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                           d.  
   e. Any amounts you spent to repair damage to your home or the land on which it sits . . . . . . . . . . .                                                                e.  
   f. Any special assessments for local improvements (such as special tax or condominium 
      association assessments that aren’t merely for repairs or maintenance) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                      f.  
   g. Add lines 4a through 4f. This is your total basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                 g.  

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Worksheet 2. How To Figure Your Gain or Loss (continued)               Keep for Your Records
5. Determine your “basis adjustments” (any payments, credits, or benefits you may need to deduct from 
your basis).
a. Any depreciation you took or were allowed to take for the use of your home for business or 
rental purposes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .         a.  
b. Any casualty losses (such as flood or fire damage) you claimed as a deduction on a federal 
tax return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   b.  
c. Any insurance payments you received or expect to receive for casualty losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                            c.  
d. Any payments you received for granting an easement, conservation restriction, or 
right-of-way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     d.  
e. Any energy credits or subsidies that effectively paid you back for improvements you included 
in your total basis, including home energy audits by a certified home energy auditor. See 
Basis Adjustments—Details and Exceptions   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                   e.  
f. Any adoption credits you claimed, or any nontaxable payments from an employer-sponsored 
adoption assistance program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                      f.  
g. Any real estate taxes the seller paid on your behalf (and for which you never paid the seller 
back). If you reimburse the seller, it doesn’t affect basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                      g.  
h. Any mortgage points the seller paid for you when you bought your home, if one of the 
following is true . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        h.  
You bought your home between January 1, 1991, and April 3, 1994, AND you deducted 
  the points as home mortgage interest in the year paid, or
You bought your home after April 3, 1994 (regardless of whether you deducted the points). 
i. Any canceled or forgiven mortgage debt amount that was excluded before January 1, 2026, 
due to a bankruptcy or insolvency and that you didn’t have to declare as income. (See Pub. 
4681.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i.  
j. Any sales tax you paid on your home (such as for a mobile home or houseboat) and then 
claimed as a deduction on a federal tax return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                   j.  
k. The value of any temporary housing the builder of your home provided for you . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                            k.  
Use this equation: Contract price × Value of temporary housing ÷ (Value of temporary 
  housing + Value of new home)
l. Any gain you postponed from the sale of a previous home sold before May 7, 1997 . . . . . . . . .                                                                   l.  
m. Add lines 5a through 5l. This is your basis adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                          m.  
6. Figure your “adjusted basis” (total basis minus basis adjustments).
Line 4g minus line 5m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                6.  
If your adjusted basis is less than zero and you went through a mortgage workout or 
  other process resulting in forgiveness or cancellation of mortgage debt (“discharge of 
  qualified principal residence indebtedness”), don’t count any portion of your canceled 
  debt that is bringing your basis below zero.
7. Figure your gain or loss (amount realized minus adjusted basis).
Line 3 minus line 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .            7.  
If the number is negative (adjusted basis is greater than amount realized), you sold your 
  home at a loss. You can’t deduct this loss, but you don’t need to pay any tax on the money 
  you received from selling your home. Skip to Reporting Your Home Sale, later.
If the number is positive, you sold your home at a gain. Skip to How Much Is Taxable, 
  later, to see if Worksheet 3 is required.
If this is your separate worksheet for business use, don’t follow guidance on line 7. Report the 
gain on Form 4797 because this gain is not excluded under section 121.

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Table 2. Does Your Home or Business Show a Gain or a 
Loss?                                                                                     Keep for Your Records

IF...                   THEN...
your “Home” worksheet   follow the instructions at the end of line 7, under Worksheet 2 for “If the number is negative.”
shows a loss, 
your “Home” worksheet   see How Much Is Taxable? and Worksheet 3 to find out how much of the gain on your “Home” 
shows a gain,           worksheet is taxable.
your “Business”         DON’T follow the instructions at the end of line 7, under Worksheet 2. Instead, report the loss from 
worksheet shows a loss, your “Business” worksheet on Form 4797, Sales of Business Property. Note. Your loss may be 
                        limited. See the Instructions for Form 4797.
your “Business”         you can’t exclude any of the gain shown on your “Business” worksheet. DON’T follow the instructions 
worksheet shows a gain, at the end of line 7, under Worksheet 2. Instead, report the gain from your “Business” worksheet on 
                        Form 4797.

Business or Rental Use of Home                                  ness or as a rental property, see Pub. 587, Business Use 
                                                                of Your Home, and Pub. 527, Residential Rental Property.
Nonqualified use of entire property after 2008.      If you 
fail to meet the requirements to qualify for the $250,000 or 
$500,000 exclusion, you may still qualify for a reduced ex-     How Much Is Taxable?
clusion. If you fail to meet the ownership and use tests, or 
if you used a portion of your home for business or rental       Review  of  the  Eligibility  Test.   Generally,  your  home 
purposes during your ownership, this type of usage may          sale qualifies for the maximum exclusion, if all of the fol-
affect your gain or loss calculations.                          lowing conditions are true.
Gain from the sale or exchange of your main home isn’t 
excludable from income if it is allocable to periods of non-    You didn’t acquire the property through a like-kind ex-
qualified  use.  Nonqualified  use  means  any  period  after     change in the past 5 years.
2008 where neither you nor your spouse (or your former          You aren’t subject to the expatriate tax.
spouse) used the property as your main home, with cer-
tain exceptions.                                                You owned the home for at least 2 of the last 5 years 
                                                                  and lived in the home for at least 2 (1 if you become 
Exceptions.   A  period  of  nonqualified  use  does  not  in-    disabled) of the last 5 years leading up to the date of 
clude:                                                            the sale.*
1. Any portion of the 5-year period ending on the date of       For the 2 years before the date of the current sale, you 
   the sale or exchange after the last date you or your           didn't sell another home on which you claimed the ex-
   spouse (or former spouse) used the property as your            clusion.
   main home;                                                   You didn’t use a portion of the home, outside of the liv-
2. Any period (not to exceed 10 years) during which you           ing area, for business or rental purposes.
   (or your spouse) are serving on qualified official ex-       You didn’t use the entire property for business or 
   tended duty:                                                   rental purposes, or as a second home, after 2008.
       a. As a member of the uniformed services;                The sale doesn’t involve the transfer of vacant land or 
       b. As a member of the Foreign Service of the Uni-          a remainder interest.**
       ted States; or                                           *If this condition isn’t met, your home sale may qualify 
                                                                for a partial exclusion. The sale must involve one of the fol-
       c. As an employee of the intelligence community; 
                                                                lowing  events  experienced  by  you,  your  spouse,  a 
       and
                                                                co-owner, or anyone else for whom the home was her or 
3. Any other period of temporary absence (not to exceed         his  residence:  a  work-related  move,  a  health-related 
   an aggregate period of 2 years) due to change of em-         move, a death, a divorce, a pregnancy with multiple chil-
   ployment, health conditions, or other unforeseen cir-        dren, a change in employment status, a change in unem-
   cumstances as may be specified by the IRS. See Eli-          ployment compensation eligibility, or other unusual event.
   gibility Step 5 Exceptions to the Eligibility Test, and      **The transfer of vacant land or of a remainder interest 
   Does Your Home Sale Qualify for the Exclusion of             may qualify for the maximum exclusion, but special rules 
   Gain?, earlier.                                              apply in those situations.
                                                                For  a  step-by-step  guide  to  determining  whether  your 
Calculation. To figure the portion of the gain allocated to 
                                                                home sale qualifies for the maximum exclusion, see Does 
the period of nonqualified use, see Worksheet 3. For more 
                                                                Your Home Sale Qualify for the Exclusion of Gain? above.
information  about  using  any  part  of  your  home  for  busi-

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If you qualify for an exclusion on your home sale, up to               Example. Cartier  owned  and  used  a  house  as  a  main 
$250,000  ($500,000  if  married  and  filing  jointly)  of  your      home from 2015 through 2018. On January 1, 2019, Cart-
gain will be tax free. If your gain is more than that amount,          ier moved to another state. Cartier rented the home from 
or if you qualify only for a partial exclusion, then some of           that date until April 30, 2021, when Cartier sold it. During 
your  gain  may  be  taxable.  This  section  contains                 the  5-year  period  ending  on  the  date  of  sale  (May  1, 
step-by-step instructions for figuring out how much of your            2016–April  30,  2021),  Cartier  owned  and  lived  in  the 
gain is taxable. See Worksheet 3, later, for assistance in             house for more than 2 years. Because the period of non-
determining your taxable gain.                                         qualified use does not include any part of the 5-year pe-
If you determined in Does Your Home Sale Qualify for                   riod after the last date Cartier lived in the home, there is no 
the Exclusion of Gain, earlier, that your home sale doesn't            period of nonqualified use. Because Cartier met the own-
qualify  for  any  exclusion  (either  full  or  partial),  then  your ership  and  use  tests,  Cartier  can  exclude  gain  up  to 
entire gain is taxable. If you don’t have a gain, you owe no           $250,000. However, Cartier can’t exclude the part of the 
tax on the sale. In either case, you don’t need to complete            gain  equal  to  the  depreciation  Cartier  claimed,  or  could 
Worksheet  3  and  you  can  skip  to Reporting  Your  Home            have claimed, for renting the house.
Sale, later.                                                           Worksheet 3 is used to help you figure taxable gain on 
                                                                       the sale or exchange of your home (if any), and how to re-
                                                                       port it.
Recapturing Depreciation
                                                                               If you completed “Business” and “Home” versions 
If  you  were  entitled  to  take  depreciation  deductions  be-       TIP     of your gain/loss worksheet as described in Prop-
cause  you  used  your  home  for  business  purposes  or  as                  erty  Used  Partly  for  Business  or  Rental,  earlier, 
rental property, you cannot exclude the part of your gain              complete Worksheet 3 only for the “Home” version.
equal  to  any  depreciation  allowed  or  allowable  as  a  de-
duction  for  periods  after  May  6,  1997.  If  you  used  all  of 
your home for business or rental after May 6, 1997, you 
may need to pay back (“recapture”) some or all of the de-
preciation you were entitled to take on your property. “Re-
capturing” depreciation means you must include it as ordi-
nary income on your tax return.

Worksheet 3. Determine if You Have Taxable Gain                                   Keep for Your Records
If you completed “Business” and “Home” versions of your gain/loss worksheet as described in Property Used Partly for 
Business or Rental, earlier, complete this worksheet only for the “Home” version.

Section A. Determine your net gain. Complete this section only if you used any part of your home for 
business or rental purposes between May 6, 1997, and the date of sale. Otherwise, skip to Section B.
Step 1       Enter your gain from line 7 of Worksheet 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                           
Step 2       List the total of all depreciation deductions that you took or could have taken for 
             the use of your home for business or rental purposes between May 7, 1997, and 
             the date of sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     
Step 3       Subtract the sum of Step 2 from the amount listed in Section A, Step 1. This is 
             your net gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Section B. Determine your nonqualified use gain. Complete this section only if the following apply: a) During 
the time you owned the property there were periods of nonqualified use when neither you nor your spouse 
(or your former spouse) used the entire property as your main home; b) the periods of nonqualified use 
occurred after 2008; c) the periods of nonqualified use occurred before the last day the entire property was 
used as your or your spouse’s (or your former spouse) main home prior to the date of sale. Do not include 
any period of nonqualified use that occurred after the last day that you or your spouse (or former spouse) 
used the entire property as your main home during the 5-year period prior to the date of sale.* Otherwise, 
skip to Section C.
*Note. If the period of non-use was 1) for an aggregate of 2 years or less and due to a change in employment, a health 
condition, or other "unforeseen circumstance" described in Does Your Home Qualify for a Partial Exclusion of Gain, 
earlier; or 2) for 10 years or less and due to a "stop the clock" exception for certain military, intelligence, and Peace 
Corps personnel described in Service, Intelligence, and Peace Corps Personnel, earlier, then you may skip Section B.
Step 1       Enter the amount from Section A, Step 1 or, if you skipped Section A, your gain 
             from line 7 of Worksheet 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .               

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Step 2     Enter the total number of days after 2008 and before the date of sale that neither 
           you nor your spouse (or former spouse) used the entire home as a main 
           residence. Do not include any days that occurred after the last day that you or 
           your spouse (or former spouse) used the entire property as your main home 
           during the 5-year period prior to the date of sale. This number is your non-use 
           days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Step 3     Enter the total number of days you owned your home (counting all days, not just 
           days after 2008). This number is your number of days owned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                                    
Step 4     Divide the non-use days by the days owned. This number is your non-residence 
           factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
Step 5     Multiply the decimal from Section B, Step 4, by the amount listed in Section B, 
           Step 1. This number is your nonqualified use gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .                                       
Section C. Determine your gain that is eligible for exclusion.
IF...                      THEN your gain that is eligible for exclusion is …
you skipped Sections A     your gain from line 7, under Worksheet 2. 
and B 
you completed Section      your net gain, from Section A, Step 3.
A but skipped Section B 
you completed Section      your gain from line 7, under Worksheet 2 less your nonqualified use gain, from Section B, 
B (regardless of whether  Step 5. 
you completed Section 
A)
 
Your gain that is eligible for exclusion is $ _______________
Section D. Determine if you have taxable gain.
IF...                      THEN …
your gain that is eligible your gain that is eligible for exclusion from your income is not to be reported on your tax 
for exclusion from         return. The Reporting Your Home Sale section only applies to your nonqualified use gain. 
Section C is less than or 
equal to your exclusion 
limit from Worksheet 1, 
Section C
your gain that is eligible some of your gain isn’t excludable, and you may owe tax on it. See Reporting Your Home 
for exclusion from         Sale for instructions on how to report the gain on your tax return. 
Section C is greater than 
your exclusion limit from 
Worksheet 1, Section C

                                                               Reporting Gain or Loss on Your Home 
Reporting Your Home Sale                                       Sale

This section tells you how to report taxable gain, take de-    Determine whether you need to report the gain from 
ductions  relating  to  your  home  sale,  and  report  income your home. You need to report the gain if ANY of the fol-
other than the gain that you may have received from your       lowing is true.
home sale.                                                     You have taxable gain on your home sale (or on the 
 This section also covers special circumstances that ap-         residential portion of your property if you made sepa-
ply to some home sellers.                                        rate calculations for home and business) and don’t 
                                                                 qualify to exclude all of the gain.
       What records to keep. Any time you buy real es-
TIP    tate,  you  should  keep  records  to  document  the    You received a Form 1099-S. If so, you must report the 
       property's adjusted basis. In general, keep these         sale on Form 8949 even if you have no taxable gain to 
records until 3 years after the due date for your tax return     report. See Instructions for Form 8949 and Instruc-
for the year in which you sold your home.                        tions for Schedule D (Form 1040) for more details.
                                                               You wish to report your gain as a taxable gain even 
                                                                 though some or all of it is eligible for exclusion. You 
                                                                 may wish to do this if, for example, you plan to sell an-
                                                                 other main home within the next 2 years and are likely 
                                                                 to receive a larger gain from the sale of that property. If 
                                                                 you later choose to report, rather than exclude, your 
                                                                 taxable gain, you can undo that choice by filing an 

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amended return within 3 years of the due date of your            QOF  if  the  investment  is  held  for  at  least  10  years.  For 
return for the year of the sale, excluding extensions.           more information, see the Instructions for Form 8949.
If  NONE  of  the  three  bullets  above  is  true,  you  don’t 
need to report your home sale on your tax return. If you         Complete Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and 
didn’t make separate home and business calculations on           Losses. Using  the  information  on  Form  8949,  report  on 
your  property,  skip  to Reporting  Deductions  Related  to     Schedule D (Form 1040) the gain or loss on your home as 
Your Home Sale, later.                                           a  capital  gain  or  loss.  Follow  the  instructions  for  Sched-
If ANY of the three bullets above is true, skip to  Deter-       ule D when completing the form.
mine whether your home sale is an installment sale, later.        If you have any taxable gain from the sale of your home, 
                                                                 you may have to increase your withholding or make esti-
If  you  made  separate  gain/loss  calculations  for            mated tax payments. See Pub. 505, Tax Withholding and 
business  and  residence  portions  of  your  property,          Estimated Tax.
you may have to use Form 4797 to report the sale of the 
business or rental part. See Property Used Partly for Busi-
ness or Rental, earlier.                                         Reporting Deductions Related to Your 
                                                                 Home Sale
Determine whether your home sale is an installment 
sale. If  you  finance  the  buyer's  purchase  of  your  home   If  you  aren’t  itemizing  deductions  on  your  return  for  the 
(you hold a note, mortgage, or other financial agreement),       year in which you sold your home, skip to Reporting Other 
you probably have an installment sale. You may be able to        Income Related to Your Home Sale, later.
report  any  non-excludable  gain  on  an  installment  basis. 
                                                                  There  is  no  tax  deduction  for  transfer  taxes,  stamp 
Use  Form  6252,  Installment  Sale  Income,  to  report  the 
                                                                 taxes,  or  other  taxes,  fees,  and  charges  you  paid  when 
sale.
                                                                 you sold your home. However, if you paid these amounts 
For more information, see Pub. 537, Installment Sales.
                                                                 as the seller, you can treat these taxes and fees as selling 
Report any interest you receive from the buyer.     If the       expenses. If you pay these amounts as the buyer, include 
buyer is making payments to you over time (as when you           them in your cost basis of the property.
provide  seller  financing),  then  you  must  generally  report 
                                                                 Determine the amount of real estate tax deductions 
part of each payment as interest on your tax return. Report 
                                                                 associated  with  your  home  sale. Depending  on  your 
the interest portion of the payment as ordinary income on 
                                                                 circumstances, you may need to figure your real estate tax 
Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 2b, or Schedule NEC (Form 
                                                                 deductions differently. See the discussion that follows for 
1040-NR) if a nonresident alien. If the buyer is using the 
                                                                 more information.
property as a first or second home, also report the interest 
on  Schedule  B  (Form  1040),  Interest  and  Ordinary  Divi-    If you didn’t receive a Form 1099-S,     use the follow-
dends, and provide the buyer's name, address, and social         ing  method  to  compute  your  real  estate  tax  deduction, 
security number. If you don’t show the buyer’s name, ad-         which may be different from the amount of real estate tax 
dress, and SSN you may have to pay a $50 penalty.                you actually paid.
If  you’re  a  nonresident  or  resident  alien  who             Divide the number of days you owned the property 
doesn’t have and isn’t eligible to get a social security           during the year of sale, not counting the date of sale, 
number, you may be issued an individual taxpayer identi-           by 365 (or 366 for a leap year).
fication number (ITIN). If you don’t have an ITIN, apply for       Multiply that figure by the amount of real estate tax 
                                                                 
one by filing Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Tax-        due on the home during the 12-month billing cycle that 
payer  Identification  Number.  If  needed,  a  nonresident  or    contains the date of sale. The result is the amount of 
resident alien buyer can apply for an ITIN as well.                real estate tax you can deduct as an itemized deduc-
Complete  Form  8949,  Sales  and  Other  Dispositions             tion.

of  Capital  Assets. Use  Form  8949  to  report  gain  from      Example.  The  real  estate  tax  on  Jackie  and  Pat 
the sale or disposition of the personal-use portion of your      White's  home  was  $620  for  the  year.  Their  real  property 
home if you can’t exclude the gain. If you received Form         tax year was the calendar year, with payment due August 
1099-S, report the transaction on Form 8949. See the In-         3, 2023. They sold the home on May 6, 2023. Jackie and 
structions for Form 8949.                                        Pat are considered to have paid a proportionate share of 
      If you have gain that can’t be excluded, you must          the real estate taxes on the home even though they didn’t 
TIP   generally report it on Form 8949, Sales and Other          actually pay them to the taxing authority.
      Dispositions  of  Capital  Assets,  and  Schedule  D        Jackie and Pat owned their home during the 2023 real 
(Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses. Report the sale           property  tax  year  for  125  days  (January  1  to  May  5,  the 
on  Part  I  or  Part  II  of  Form  8949  as  a  short-term  or day before the sale). They figure their deduction for taxes 
long-term transaction, depending on how long you owned           as follows.
the home. In addition, you may be able to temporarily de-
fer capital gains invested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund 
(QOF). You may also be able to permanently exclude cap-
ital gains from the sale or exchange of an investment in a 

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1. Total real estate taxes for the real property tax year . .     $620      Paying Back Credits and Subsidies
2. Number of days in the real property tax year that you 
   owned the property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125       If you received any homebuyer credits or federal mortgage 
3. Divide line 2 by 365 (366 if leap year). . . . . . . . . . .   0.342     subsidies, you may have to pay back (“recapture”) some 
4. Multiply line 1 by line 3. This is your deduction. Enter it              or all of the amount by increasing your tax payment.
   on line 5b of Schedule A (Form 1040) . . . . . . . . . . .     $212 
                                                                            Determine any amounts you may have claimed as a 
Since the buyers paid all of the taxes, Jackie and Pat also 
                                                                            first-time  homebuyer  tax  credit.  If  you  bought  your 
include the $212 in the home's selling price. The buyers 
                                                                            home  in  2008,  you  must  pay  back  the  credit  unless  you 
add the $212 to their basis in the home. The buyers can 
                                                                            qualify for an exception.
deduct $408 ($620 – $212) as an itemized deduction, the 
                                                                            See  Form  5405,  Repayment  of  the  First-Time  Home-
taxes for the part of the year they owned the home.
                                                                            buyer Credit, to find out how much to pay back, or if you 
If you received a Form 1099-S,                start with the amount         qualify  for  any  exceptions.  If  you  do  have  to  repay  the 
of real estate tax you actually paid in the year of sale. Sub-              credit, file Form 5405 with your tax return.
tract  the  buyer's  share  of  real  estate  tax  as  shown  in 
box  6.  The  result  is  the  amount  you  can  use  in  figuring          Determine  any  amounts  you  may  have  received  in 
your itemized deductions.                                                   federal mortgage subsidies in the 9 years leading up 
                                                                            to the date of sale. If you financed your home under a 
If  you  didn’t  already  deduct  all  your  mortgage                       federally  subsidized  program  (loans  from  tax-exempt 
points on an earlier tax return,            you may be able to de-          qualified  mortgage  bonds  or  loans  with  mortgage  credit 
duct them on your tax return for the year of sale. See Pub.                 certificates), you may have to recapture all or part of the 
936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction.                                      benefit you received from that program upon the sale or 
                                                                            other  transfer  of  ownership  of  your  home.  You  recapture 
Report on Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deduc-                           the  benefit  by  increasing  your  federal  income  tax  for  the 
tions,  any  itemized  real  estate  deduction.                 Follow  the year of the sale. You may have to pay this recapture tax 
Instructions for Schedule A when completing the form.                       even if you can exclude your gain from income under the 
                                                                            rules  discussed  earlier;  that  exclusion  doesn’t  affect  the 
Reporting Other Income Related to                                           recapture tax.
Your Home Sale                                                              See Form 8828, Recapture of Federal Mortgage Sub-
                                                                            sidy, to find out how much to repay, or whether you qualify 
Report  as  ordinary  income  on  Form  1040,  1040-SR,                     for any exceptions.
or  1040-NR  any  amounts  received  from  selling  per-                    If you did receive any federal mortgage subsidies, you 
sonal property. If you sold furniture, drapes, lawn equip-                  must file Form 8828 with your tax return whether you sold 
ment, a washer/dryer, or other property that wasn’t a per-                  your home at a loss or a gain. If you had a loss, you won't 
manent part of your home, report the amount you received                    have to pay back any subsidy.
for the items as ordinary income. Report this amount on 
Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8z, or Schedule NEC (Form 
1040-NR) if a nonresident alien. The selling price of your 
                                                                            How To Get Tax Help
home doesn’t include amounts you received for personal 
property sold with your home.                                               If you have questions about a tax issue; need help prepar-
                                                                            ing your tax return; or want to download free publications, 
Report  as  ordinary  income  on  Form  1040,  1040-SR, 
                                                                            forms, or instructions, go to IRS.gov to find resources that 
or  1040-NR  any  amounts  received  for  sales  of  ex-
                                                                            can help you right away.
pired options to purchase your property.                      If you gran-
ted someone an option to buy your home and it expired in                    Preparing and filing your tax return.  After receiving all 
the  year  of  sale,  report  the  amount  you  received  for  the          your wage and earnings statements (Forms W-2, W-2G, 
option as ordinary income. Report this amount on Sched-                     1099-R,  1099-MISC,  1099-NEC,  etc.);  unemployment 
ule  1  (Form  1040),  line  8z,  or  Schedule  NEC  (Form                  compensation statements (by mail or in a digital format) or 
1040-NR) if a nonresident alien.                                            other  government  payment  statements  (Form  1099-G); 
                                                                            and  interest,  dividend,  and  retirement  statements  from 
Report  as  ordinary  income  on  Form  1040,  1040-SR, 
                                                                            banks and investment firms (Forms 1099), you have sev-
or  1040-NR  applicable  canceled  or  forgiven  mort-
                                                                            eral options to choose from to prepare and file your tax re-
gage debt. If you went through a mortgage workout, fore-
                                                                            turn.  You  can  prepare  the  tax  return  yourself,  see  if  you 
closure, or other process in which a lender forgave or can-
                                                                            qualify for free tax preparation, or hire a tax professional to 
celed  mortgage  debt  on  your  home,  then  you  must 
                                                                            prepare your return.
generally report the amount of forgiven or canceled debt 
as income on your tax return. However, if you had a written                 Free options for tax preparation.    Your options for pre-
agreement for the forgiveness of the debt in place before                   paring  and  filing  your  return  online  or  in  your  local  com-
January  1,  2026,  then  you  might  be  able  to  exclude  the            munity, if you qualify, include the following.
forgiven amount from your income. For more information, 
see Pub. 4681, Canceled Debts, Foreclosures, Reposses-                      Free File. This program lets you prepare and file your 
sions, and Abandonments.                                                      federal individual income tax return for free using 

20                                                                                                        Publication 523 (2023)



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  software or Free File Fillable Forms. However, state        IRS.gov/Forms: Find forms, instructions, and publica-
  tax preparation may not be available through Free File.       tions. You will find details on the most recent tax 
  Go to IRS.gov/FreeFile to see if you qualify for free on-     changes and interactive links to help you find answers 
  line federal tax preparation, e-filing, and direct deposit    to your questions.
  or payment options.
                                                              You may also be able to access tax information in your 
VITA. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)              e-filing software.
  program offers free tax help to people with 
  low-to-moderate incomes, persons with disabilities, 
                                                             Need someone to prepare your tax return?                    There are 
  and limited-English-speaking taxpayers who need 
                                                             various  types  of  tax  return  preparers,  including  enrolled 
  help preparing their own tax returns. Go to IRS.gov/
                                                             agents, certified public accountants (CPAs), accountants, 
  VITA, download the free IRS2Go app, or call 
                                                             and many others who don’t have professional credentials. 
  800-906-9887 for information on free tax return prepa-
                                                             If  you  choose  to  have  someone  prepare  your  tax  return, 
  ration.
                                                             choose that preparer wisely. A paid tax preparer is:
TCE. The Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) pro-
  gram offers free tax help for all taxpayers, particularly   Primarily responsible for the overall substantive accu-
                                                                racy of your return,
  those who are 60 years of age and older. TCE volun-
  teers specialize in answering questions about pen-          Required to sign the return, and
  sions and retirement-related issues unique to seniors. 
                                                              Required to include their preparer tax identification 
  Go to IRS.gov/TCE or download the free IRS2Go app 
                                                                number (PTIN).
  for information on free tax return preparation.
                                                                     Although the tax preparer always signs the return, 
MilTax. Members of the U.S. Armed Forces and quali-
                                                                     you're  ultimately  responsible  for  providing  all  the 
  fied veterans may use MilTax, a free tax service of-       CAUTION!
                                                                     information required for the preparer to accurately 
  fered by the Department of Defense through Military 
                                                             prepare your return and for the accuracy of every item re-
  OneSource. For more information, go to 
                                                             ported on the return. Anyone paid to prepare tax returns 
  MilitaryOneSource MilitaryOneSource.mil/MilTax ( ).
                                                             for  others  should  have  a  thorough  understanding  of  tax 
   Also, the IRS offers Free Fillable Forms, which can 
                                                             matters. For more information on how to choose a tax pre-
  be completed online and then e-filed regardless of in-
                                                             parer, go to Tips for Choosing a Tax Preparer on IRS.gov.
  come.

Using online tools to help prepare your return.  Go to       Employers can register to use Business Services On-
IRS.gov/Tools for the following.                             line. The Social Security Administration (SSA) offers on-
The Earned Income Tax Credit Assistant IRS.gov/ (          line service at SSA.gov/employer for fast, free, and secure 
  EITCAssistant) determines if you’re eligible for the       W-2 filing options to CPAs, accountants, enrolled agents, 
  earned income credit (EIC).                                and  individuals  who  process  Form  W-2,  Wage  and  Tax 
                                                             Statement,  and  Form  W-2c,  Corrected  Wage  and  Tax 
The Online EIN Application IRS.gov/EIN ( ) helps you 
                                                             Statement.
  get an employer identification number (EIN) at no 
  cost.                                                      IRS social media.  Go to IRS.gov/SocialMedia to see the 
The Tax Withholding Estimator IRS.gov/W4App (  )           various social media tools the IRS uses to share the latest 
  makes it easier for you to estimate the federal income     information on tax changes, scam alerts, initiatives, prod-
  tax you want your employer to withhold from your pay-      ucts, and services. At the IRS, privacy and security are our 
  check. This is tax withholding. See how your withhold-     highest priority. We use these tools to share public infor-
  ing affects your refund, take-home pay, or tax due.        mation  with  you. Don’t  post  your  social  security  number 
                                                             (SSN)  or  other  confidential  information  on  social  media 
The First-Time Homebuyer Credit Account Look-up 
                                                             sites. Always protect your identity when using any social 
  (IRS.gov/HomeBuyer) tool provides information on 
                                                             networking site.
  your repayments and account balance.
                                                              The following IRS YouTube channels provide short, in-
The Sales Tax Deduction Calculator IRS.gov/ (              formative videos on various tax-related topics in English, 
  SalesTax) figures the amount you can claim if you          Spanish, and ASL.
  itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040).
                                                              Youtube.com/irsvideos.
   Getting  answers  to  your  tax  questions.         On 
                                                              Youtube.com/irsvideosmultilingua.
   IRS.gov,  you  can  get  up-to-date  information  on 
   current events and changes in tax law.                     Youtube.com/irsvideosASL.

IRS.gov/Help: A variety of tools to help you get an-       Watching     IRS     videos. The   IRS Video                portal 
  swers to some of the most common tax questions.            (IRSVideos.gov)  contains  video  and  audio  presentations 
IRS.gov/ITA: The Interactive Tax Assistant, a tool that    for individuals, small businesses, and tax professionals.
  will ask you questions and, based on your input, pro-
  vide answers on a number of tax topics.

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Online  tax  information  in  other  languages. You  can           Access your tax records, including key data from your 
find  information  on IRS.gov/MyLanguage  if  English  isn’t         most recent tax return, and transcripts.
your native language.
                                                                   View digital copies of select notices from the IRS.
Free  Over-the-Phone  Interpreter  (OPI)  Service.  The            Approve or reject authorization requests from tax pro-
IRS is committed to serving taxpayers with limited-English           fessionals.
proficiency (LEP) by offering OPI services. The OPI Serv-
ice is a federally funded program and is available at Tax-         View your address on file or manage your communica-
                                                                     tion preferences.
payer  Assistance  Centers  (TACs),  most  IRS  offices,  and 
every VITA/TCE tax return site. The OPI Service is acces-          Get a transcript of your return. With an online account, 
sible in more than 350 languages.                                  you can access a variety of information to help you during 
                                                                   the  filing  season.  You  can  get  a  transcript,  review  your 
Accessibility  Helpline  available  for  taxpayers  with 
                                                                   most recently filed tax return, and get your adjusted gross 
disabilities. Taxpayers  who  need  information  about  ac-
                                                                   income. Create or access your online account at       IRS.gov/
cessibility  services  can  call  833-690-0598.  The  Accessi-
                                                                   Account.
bility Helpline can answer questions related to current and 
future accessibility products and services available in al-        Tax  Pro  Account. This  tool  lets  your  tax  professional 
ternative  media  formats  (for  example,  braille,  large  print, submit an authorization request to access your individual 
audio, etc.). The Accessibility Helpline does not have ac-         taxpayer IRS online account. For more information, go to 
cess to your IRS account. For help with tax law, refunds, or       IRS.gov/TaxProAccount.
account-related issues, go to IRS.gov/LetUsHelp.
                                                                   Using direct deposit. The safest and easiest way to re-
Note.    Form  9000,  Alternative  Media  Preference,  or          ceive a tax refund is to e-file and choose direct deposit, 
Form 9000(SP) allows you to elect to receive certain types         which securely and electronically transfers your refund di-
of written correspondence in the following formats.                rectly  into  your  financial  account.  Direct  deposit  also 
 Standard Print.                                                 avoids the possibility that your check could be lost, stolen, 
                                                                   destroyed,  or  returned  undeliverable  to  the  IRS.  Eight  in 
 Large Print.
                                                                   10 taxpayers use direct deposit to receive their refunds. If 
 Braille.                                                        you  don’t  have  a  bank  account,  go  to           IRS.gov/
                                                                   DirectDeposit for more information on where to find a bank 
 Audio (MP3).
                                                                   or credit union that can open an account online.
 Plain Text File (TXT).
                                                                   Reporting  and  resolving  your  tax-related  identity 
 Braille Ready File (BRF).
                                                                   theft issues. 
Disasters.  Go  to IRS.gov/DisasterRelief  to  review  the         Tax-related identity theft happens when someone 
available disaster tax relief.                                       steals your personal information to commit tax fraud. 
                                                                     Your taxes can be affected if your SSN is used to file a 
Getting  tax  forms  and  publications. Go  to  IRS.gov/             fraudulent return or to claim a refund or credit.
Forms  to  view,  download,  or  print  all  the  forms,  instruc-
tions, and publications you may need. Or, you can go to            The IRS doesn’t initiate contact with taxpayers by 
IRS.gov/OrderForms to place an order.                                email, text messages (including shortened links), tele-
                                                                     phone calls, or social media channels to request or 
Getting  tax  publications  and  instructions  in  eBook             verify personal or financial information. This includes 
format. Download and view most tax publications and in-              requests for personal identification numbers (PINs), 
structions  (including  the  Instructions  for  Form  1040)  on      passwords, or similar information for credit cards, 
mobile devices as eBooks at IRS.gov/eBooks.                          banks, or other financial accounts.
IRS eBooks have been tested using Apple's iBooks for 
                                                                   Go to IRS.gov/IdentityTheft, the IRS Identity Theft 
iPad. Our eBooks haven’t been tested on other dedicated 
                                                                     Central webpage, for information on identity theft and 
eBook readers, and eBook functionality may not operate 
                                                                     data security protection for taxpayers, tax professio-
as intended.
                                                                     nals, and businesses. If your SSN has been lost or 
Access  your  online  account  (individual  taxpayers                stolen or you suspect you’re a victim of tax-related 
only). Go  to IRS.gov/Account  to  securely  access  infor-          identity theft, you can learn what steps you should 
mation about your federal tax account.                               take.
 View the amount you owe and a breakdown by tax                  Get an Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN). IP PINs are 
   year.                                                             six-digit numbers assigned to taxpayers to help pre-
                                                                     vent the misuse of their SSNs on fraudulent federal in-
 See payment plan details or apply for a new payment               come tax returns. When you have an IP PIN, it pre-
   plan.                                                             vents someone else from filing a tax return with your 
 Make a payment or view 5 years of payment history                 SSN. To learn more, go to IRS.gov/IPPIN.
   and any pending or scheduled payments.

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Ways to check on the status of your refund.                 Checking  the  status  of  your  amended  return.            Go  to 
                                                            IRS.gov/WMAR to track the status of Form 1040-X amen-
Go to IRS.gov/Refunds.
                                                            ded returns.
Download the official IRS2Go app to your mobile de-
                                                                     It can take up to 3 weeks from the date you filed 
  vice to check your refund status.
                                                                     your amended return for it to show up in our sys-
Call the automated refund hotline at 800-829-1954.        CAUTION! tem, and processing it can take up to 16 weeks.

        The IRS can’t issue refunds before mid-February 
                                                            Understanding  an  IRS  notice  or  letter  you’ve  re-
!       for returns that claimed the EIC or the additional 
CAUTION child tax credit (ACTC). This applies to the entire ceived.  Go to IRS.gov/Notices to find additional informa-
refund, not just the portion associated with these credits. tion about responding to an IRS notice or letter.

                                                            Responding  to  an  IRS  notice  or  letter. You  can  now 
Making  a  tax  payment. Payments  of  U.S.  tax  must  be 
                                                            upload  responses  to  all  notices  and  letters  using  the 
remitted to the IRS in U.S. dollars. Digital assets are not 
                                                            Document Upload Tool. For notices that require additional 
accepted. Go to IRS.gov/Payments for information on how 
                                                            action,  taxpayers  will  be  redirected  appropriately  on 
to make a payment using any of the following options.
                                                            IRS.gov  to  take  further  action.  To  learn  more  about  the 
IRS Direct Pay: Pay your individual tax bill or estimated tool, go to IRS.gov/Upload.
  tax payment directly from your checking or savings ac-
  count at no cost to you.                                  Note.     You  can  use  Schedule  LEP  (Form  1040),  Re-
                                                            quest for Change in Language Preference, to state a pref-
Debit Card, Credit Card, or Digital Wallet: Choose an     erence to receive notices, letters, or other written commu-
  approved payment processor to pay online or by            nications from the IRS in an alternative language. You may 
  phone.                                                    not immediately receive written communications in the re-
Electronic Funds Withdrawal: Schedule a payment           quested language. The IRS’s commitment to LEP taxpay-
  when filing your federal taxes using tax return prepara-  ers  is  part  of  a  multi-year  timeline  that  began  providing 
  tion software or through a tax professional.              translations in 2023. You will continue to receive communi-
                                                            cations, including notices and letters, in English until they 
Electronic Federal Tax Payment System: Best option 
                                                            are translated to your preferred language.
  for businesses. Enrollment is required.
Check or Money Order: Mail your payment to the ad-        Contacting your local TAC. Keep in mind, many ques-
  dress listed on the notice or instructions.               tions can be answered on IRS.gov without visiting a TAC. 
                                                            Go to IRS.gov/LetUsHelp for the topics people ask about 
Cash: You may be able to pay your taxes with cash at 
                                                            most. If you still need help, TACs provide tax help when a 
  a participating retail store.
                                                            tax  issue  can’t  be  handled  online  or  by  phone.  All  TACs 
Same-Day Wire: You may be able to do same-day             now provide service by appointment, so you’ll know in ad-
  wire from your financial institution. Contact your finan- vance that you can get the service you need without long 
  cial institution for availability, cost, and time frames. wait times. Before you visit, go to IRS.gov/TACLocator to 
                                                            find the nearest TAC and to check hours, available serv-
Note.   The IRS uses the latest encryption technology to    ices,  and  appointment  options.  Or,  on  the  IRS2Go  app, 
ensure that the electronic payments you make online, by     under the Stay Connected tab, choose the Contact Us op-
phone, or from a mobile device using the IRS2Go app are     tion and click on “Local Offices.”
safe and secure. Paying electronically is quick, easy, and 
faster than mailing in a check or money order.
                                                            The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) 
What  if  I  can’t  pay  now? Go  to IRS.gov/Payments  for  Is Here To Help You
more information about your options.
                                                            What Is TAS?
Apply for an online payment agreement IRS.gov/ (
  OPA) to meet your tax obligation in monthly install-      TAS  is  an independent  organization  within  the  IRS  that 
  ments if you can’t pay your taxes in full today. Once     helps taxpayers and protects taxpayer rights. TAS strives 
  you complete the online process, you will receive im-     to ensure that every taxpayer is treated fairly and that you 
  mediate notification of whether your agreement has        know and understand your rights under the    Taxpayer Bill 
  been approved.                                            of Rights.
Use the Offer in Compromise Pre-Qualifier to see if 
  you can settle your tax debt for less than the full       How Can You Learn About Your Taxpayer 
  amount you owe. For more information on the Offer in      Rights?
  Compromise program, go to IRS.gov/OIC.
                                                            The Taxpayer Bill of Rights describes 10 basic rights that 
Filing  an  amended  return.   Go  to IRS.gov/Form1040X     all  taxpayers  have  when  dealing  with  the  IRS.  Go  to 
for information and updates.                                TaxpayerAdvocate.IRS.gov  to  help  you  understand  what 
                                                            these rights mean to you and how they apply. These are 
                                                            your rights. Know them. Use them.

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What Can TAS Do for You?                                               Check your local directory; or
TAS can help you resolve problems that you can’t resolve               Call TAS toll free at 877-777-4778.
with  the  IRS.  And  their  service  is  free.  If  you  qualify  for 
their  assistance,  you  will  be  assigned  to  one  advocate         How Else Does TAS Help Taxpayers?
who will work with you throughout the process and will do 
                                                                       TAS  works  to  resolve  large-scale  problems  that  affect 
everything  possible  to  resolve  your  issue.  TAS  can  help 
                                                                       many taxpayers. If you know of one of these broad issues, 
you if:
                                                                       report it to TAS at IRS.gov/SAMS. Be sure to not include 
 Your problem is causing financial difficulty for you,               any personal taxpayer information.
   your family, or your business;
 You face (or your business is facing) an immediate                  Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs)
   threat of adverse action; or
                                                                       LITCs are independent from the IRS and TAS. LITCs rep-
 You’ve tried repeatedly to contact the IRS but no one 
                                                                       resent individuals whose income is below a certain level 
   has responded, or the IRS hasn’t responded by the 
                                                                       and who need to resolve tax problems with the IRS. LITCs 
   date promised.
                                                                       can represent taxpayers in audits, appeals, and tax collec-
                                                                       tion  disputes  before  the  IRS  and  in  court.  In  addition, 
How Can You Reach TAS?                                                 LITCs can provide information about taxpayer rights and 
                                                                       responsibilities  in  different  languages  for  individuals  who 
TAS  has  offices in  every  state,  the  District  of  Columbia, 
                                                                       speak English as a second language. Services are offered 
and Puerto Rico. To find your advocate’s number:
                                                                       for free or a small fee. For more information or to find an 
 Go to TaxpayerAdvocate.IRS.gov/Contact-Us;                          LITC near you,      go to          the   LITC     page at 
 Download Pub. 1546, The Taxpayer Advocate Service                   TaxpayerAdvocate.IRS.gov/LITC  or  see  IRS  Pub.  4134, 
   Is Your Voice at the IRS, available at IRS.gov/pub/irs-             Low  Income  Taxpayer  Clinic  List,  at IRS.gov/pub/irs-pdf/
   pdf/p1546.pdf;                                                      p4134.pdf.
 Call the IRS toll free at 800-TAX-FORM 
   (800-829-3676) to order a copy of Pub. 1546;

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                       To help us develop a more useful index, please let us know if you have ideas for index entries.
Index                  See “Comments and Suggestions” in the “Introduction” for the ways you can reach us.
 
                                     Subsidies  10                            More than one home  3
A                                  exclusion of canceled or forgiven mortgage 
                                     debt 2                                   N
Armed Service Members     4        Exclusion of gain  3
Assistance (See Tax help)                                                     Nonresident or resident alien 19
Automatic disqualification 3       F
Away from home     4                                                          O
                                   Federal mortgage subsidies  20
B                                  First-time homebuyer tax credit 20         Ownership  3
                                   Form 8949  19                              Ownership requirement  3
Basis adjustments:                 Future developments   1
  Adjusted basis   8                                                          P
Business or Rental use of home  12 G                                          Paying back credits 20
C                                  Gain or loss 8                             Paying back subsidies 20
                                     Exclusion of gain 3                      Peace Corps Members   4
Capital Gains:                                                                Publications (See Tax help)
  Qualified Opportunity Funds 2    H
Closing costs    9                                                            R
Community property:                Home acquired through a trade   10
  Basis determination  11          Home inherited   11                        Remodeling   10
Condemnation:                      Home received as gift 11                   Rental use of home  16
  Basis   11                       Home sale:                                 Repairs 10
  Sale price 11                      Reporting requirements 18                Reporting home sale deductions             19
Condominium:                       Houseboat:                                 Reporting other income related to home 
                                                                               sale  20
  As main home     3                 As main home   3                         Reporting taxable gain or loss 18
Cooperative apartment:                                                        Residence 3
  As main home     3               I                                          Residence requirement 3
                                   Improvements   9
D                                  Inheritance:                               S
Death of Spouse    4                 Home received as  11                     Seller costs 9
Depreciation:                      Installment sale 19                        Settlement fees 9
  Home used for business or rental Interest reporting 19                      Spouse:
  purposes       17                                                            Death of (See Surviving spouse)
Destruction:                       L                                          Surviving spouse:
  Basis   11                       Look-back requirement  4                    Basis determination 11
  Sale price 11                    Look-back requirement exceptions     4
Disability:
  Mentally disabled  4                                                        T
  Physically disabled 4            M                                          Tax help 20
Divorce 11                         Main home:                                 Taxable gain  16
                                     Defined  3                               Transfer of home 3
E                                    Factors used to determine 3
                                   Missing children, photographs of     1     W
Eligibility test 3                 Mobile home:                               Widowed Taxpayers   4
Energy:                              As main home   3
  Credit  10

Publication 523 (2023)                                                                                                     25






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