Two Years of Ownership and Use

To take advantage of the exclusion for sales and exchanges, you must have owned and used the home as a principal residence for at least two of the five preceding years. The two years for each test need not have occurred at the same time.

Example In 2005, Sharon Rose was living in a rented apartment. The apartment was converted into a condominium, and in 2008 Sharon purchased her apartment. In 2011, Sharon became ill and on April 14 of that year, she moved to her daughter's home. She never moved back to the condo and on July 10, 2013, she sold it. Sharon can exclude up to $250,000 in gain on the sale of her condo because she met both tests, at different times. Her five year-period of ownership began on July 10, 2008 and ended on July 10, 2013. Within that period she lived in the condo from July 10, 2008 until April 14, 2011, which is more than two years. Also within that period she owned the home from sometime in 2008 until July 10, 2013, which is also more than two years.

In tallying up the time periods, you can count short periods of absence for vacation, seasonal absences, or any other temporary absence (generally, anything under one year) as time that you spent using the home.

Also, there are some grandfathering provisions in the law, which say that if you previously owned a home and rolled over the capital gains from that home into your current home under the old rollover-replacement rule, you can count the time you owned and/or lived in that previous home toward your two-year period. To take advantage of this exception, you can't have sold another home within two years of your sale, or since May 7, 1997 (whichever period is shorter). This is true even if your previous home was condemned or destroyed.

If you can't meet the two-year rules because you became physically or mentally incapable of self-care, you qualify for the exemption if you owned and lived in the home for at least one year.

In a new twist to these rules, the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 requires that a principal residence be owned for at least five years prior to a tax-free sale or exchange if the residence was acquired in a like-kind exchange.

This change applies to sales or exchanges occurring after October 22, 2004. However, the two-year ownership rule still applies for other types of acquisitions (e.g., purchasing a residence). Also, in any case, the two-year period of use as a principal residence remains unchanged.

• If you can't meet the period of ownership rules for other reasons, you might qualify for a partial exclusion.
• If you are married or divorced, special rules apply.