iam 71 years old. Iam selling my home of 30 years. will i be required to pay a capitol gain tax?

Answer 1

You only have to pay capital gains if you have more than one house or you sell it before you own it for 2 years.

Answer 2

You may have a major issue with taxes. It depends on the value of your house. The old roll-over of capital gain for you home no longer apply. The law changed. There is no more rolling over. There is a 1031 roll over law but that applies to investment properties, not primary residences.

The new law...If you live in your home the previous 2 years (which you qualify), you are exampted from the first $250,000 of capital gain tax ($500,000 if filed jointly). You can repeat this every two years.

So if you bought your house for $30,000 thirty years ago and it is worth $280,000, you just made it. However if your house worth more that that, anything above the $280,000 you may have a tax liability. On the other hand if you and your spouse file jointly, you still have a lot of room.

You need to talk to your local CPA. It would be difficult to help you much on this forum other than to give you some general ideas. By the way, have you heard of the "reverse mortage"? It is not for everyone but in your situation, it may make some sense. Again, check it out with your financial advisor.

Answer 3

It depends on where you live. In California no. You will have to pay no federal capitol gains tax as long as the amount of gain you have made on the house is 250,000. dollars or less. If you are married or recently widowed you can keep 500,000 dollars in gains before you are taxed. So lets say you bought your house in 1976 and it sold for 60,000 dollars. Now you sell it for 600,000 dollars your gain is 540,000 dollars. But you can write off all the improvements you made to the home and repairs. If you are a widower then you may be able to only pay tax on the 40,000. dollars and after repairs and improvements you may owe nothing. If you are just single only 250,000 is exempt from Capital gains tax.
It is best to check with a tax man who knows real estate. I am a Realtor and I have to tell you to do that by law. The tax laws were changed to help the baby-boomers who are all growing older. So this will help you. It also made it harder for the speculators to flip houses and pay no taxes. You do have to live in a house two years to do this and it must be your personal residence. You can have two personal propertys but only one can be your personal residence. Many people have a vacation home. This does not apply to rental property you may own. That's another bag of worms.
You have other options as well. You can do a reverse mortgage and stay in your home. This allows you to live on the equity of your home for many years. It can give you a fat steady income and allow you to travel. It also will be a tax deduction since it is a loan on your house. When the home is sold the amount used is deducted from the sale price just like a loan.
Make sure at your age you have your home in a Trust. Otherwise it will be taken by the state and end up in a horrid probate mess upon your death.
You can if you buy a smaller home in some areas take your tax base with you. In California that means if you were prop 13nd in at maybe a low tax rate of 400 dollars a year you can keep that tax rate.
These things apply to California but the Federal taxes are the same everywhere. Reverse mortgages are not allowed in some states like Texas. Again check with a taxman that knows real estate. A good Realtor may know one to recomend. By the way not all real estate agents are Realtors. You must belong to NAR and CAR to be a Realtor in California. National Association of Realtors.(NAR).

Answer 4

If you have been living in your home (your primary residence) for two or more years, then you qualify for a capital gain exemption of $250,000. If you are married and file a joint income tax return, then you would qualify for an additional $250,000 exemption. The total possible exemption would be $500,000.

Answer 5

Based on your situation, I believe you do not pay capital gains tax on it if:

1. You roll the proceeds into purchasing another property
2. Your profit is less than $300K

Of course, you should check with a CPA to optimize your profit.

Answer 6

Capital gains tax? I don't think so. Consult the IRS for the answer. You will have to pay income tax on it.

Answer 7

Depends how much money you make. I believe you need to earn 500k after deducting amoratized losses from the sale to be subject to cap. gains on the sale of a residence. So, depends where you are, probably.

Answer 8

i once ask a rep at the irs office at what age do you stop paying taxes,he laugh and said your never to old to pay taxes good luck sorry but i can't see uncle sam passing this up

Answer 9

No.