One of the Best Tax Advantage Investments You Can Make Is Very Old Fashioned, Your Home.
What other investment will allow you to have up to $500,000 capital gain tax-free? As I said in the previous article, your personal residence is most likely the single largest purchase you will make in your lifetime. Investing properly in the right home for you and your family can be a very good money management play for your long term goals.
The Tax Loophole
The tax code recognizes the importance of home ownership by providing certain tax breaks when you sell your home. The type of home involved is less important. A single-family home, condominium, cooperative apartment, mobile home, or houseboat can all count as a residence.
You Don't Have to Buy a Replacement Home
People still occasionally ask if they have to buy a replacement home that costs as much or more than the one they sold. The answer is no. That rule went out a very long time ago. This presents a perfect long-term tax planning opportunity for anyone who might want to down-size or relocate at retirement!
Your home sale will qualify for the exclusion of $250,000 gain ($500,000 if married filing jointly) if the following are all true:
1) You owned the home and used it as your main home during at least 2 of the last 5 years before the date of sale.
2) You did not acquire the home through a like-kind exchange (also known as a 1031 exchange), during the past 5 years.
3) You did not claim any exclusion for the sale of a home that occurred during a 2-year period ending on the date of the sale of the home, the gain from which you now want to exclude.
The ability to exclude $500,000 from taxation is huge. If you had a $500,000 taxable capital gain, even though the tax on the long term capital gain might be limited to 20%, you would pay the additional investment tax and your other income would be taxed at a higher bracket. In addition, if you are at Medicare age, an excludable gain on the sale of your home will not affect Medicare Premiums. A taxable gain could cause your Medicare Premiums to increase by as much as $4,000 in one year. Utilizing this tax break should be the foundation of almost everyone's long term money management plan, or at the very least, a consideration.