purchased property in 84, rented it out 16 yrs, moved into it in 2001, sold 2006, what's my tax liability

Answer 1

Nowhere near enough information to say.

Since you lived in it for 2 of the 5 years prior to the sale, it qualifies for the exclusion, HOWEVER since you rented it out during the time that you owned it, you must reduce your cost basis by the depreciation allowed or allowable for the time that it was rented out.

Without knowing what you paid for it, what you sold it for, and how much depreciation was taken or could have been taken it's not possible to say how much profit you had on the sale and therefore what impact the sale would have on your tax return.

Answer 2

I would need MUCH more details to give a real answer. However, here is some very general, basic info. If you lived in that house 2 out of the last 5 yrs (it sounds like you did) and are married, you can exclude $500,000 in profit. If single, $250,000 in profit. If you depreciated it when you rented it out (which most likely you did), you need to recapture that deprecation into income.

Answer 3

It would be a good idea to see a CPA (NOT H&R Block) to sort this out. And you'll need to know how much depreciation was taken on the house during the time you rented it out.