Capital gains pains.Q My husband and I are moving from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of to Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (pĕnsəlvā`nyə), one of the Middle Atlantic states of the United States. It is bordered by New Jersey, across the Delaware River (E), Delaware (SE), Maryland (S), West Virginia (SW), Ohio (W), and Lake Erie and New York and I must sell my home. Because of the jump in real estate prices, I've I've Contraction of I have. I've I have I've have realized a nice return on my investment and I'm worried about paying huge capital gains taxes. Is there anything I can do to lower or avoid paying them? S. Boyce New York A The good news is that, due to the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, it is quite possible that you may not owe any capital gains taxes at all from the sale of your home. Since May 1997, homeowners selling their home have been allowed to exclude any capital gains tax, provided they meet the following requirements: * The property must have served as your primary residence for at least two of the five years preceding the sale date. * The gain on the property must be less than $250,000 for single persons or $500,000 for married couples. * The owners must not have sold another home they considered their primary residence in at least the last two years preceding the sale date. Since you are married, you could be entitled en·ti·tle tr.v. en·ti·tled, en·ti·tling, en·ti·tles 1. To give a name or title to. 2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: to exclude up to $500,000 in capital gains, provided you file a join[ tax return with your husband. The most important thing for you to do now is determine exactly how much gain you would make from the sale of your home. You can find capital gains tax calculators on the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the at http://homegain.com/tool_center or at http:// homebuying.about.com/cs/capitalgains.--Matthew S. Scott Mail your money management questions to Ask B.E., BLACK ENTERPRISE, 130 Fifth Ave AVE Avenue AVE Average AVE Alta Velocidad Espanola (train between Madrid and Seville) AVE Alta Velocidad Española (Spanish: High Speed Train) AVE Audio Video Entertainment AVE Advertising Value Equivalent ., New York, NY 10011, or send an e-mail to scottm@blackenterprise.com. |
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