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Tax Topic 25 - Selling Your Home

 

In this topic your will become familiar with the rules that apply when you sell your main home. Your main home is the home lived in most of the time. You will learn the amount that you can exclude from income of the gain from the sale of your home. In addition, you will learn what to do when the sale cannot be excluded from income, in which case it becomes fully taxable. You will also learn what to do with a non-deductible loss of the sale of your home. 

Student Instructions:

Print this page, work on the questions and then submit test by mailing the answer sheet or by completing quiz online.

Instructions to submit quiz online successfully: Step-by-Step check list

Answer Sheet            Quiz Online

Most forms are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. Get Adobe ReaderYou will need Adobe Reader to view and print these forms. If you do not already have Adobe Reader installed on your computer, you may download the software for free.

 

Material needed to complete the sections in this assignment:

Use IRS Publication 523 and Form 1040 Instructions to complete this topic.

Prepare  Form 1040 and Schedule D.

    Karen (Age 24), a single person, bought her home February 23, 1998. She lived in the home until May 31, 2007, when she moved out of the house and put it up for rent. Karen rented out her home until May 31, 2008. That's when she moved back into the house and lived there until she sold it on January 10, 2009. Karen wants to exclude all of the gain from the sale of her home.

 

Karen's records show the following:  
Original cost $50,000
Legal fees for title search $750
Improvements (deck) $2,000
Selling price $195,000
Commission and expenses of sale $15,000
Depreciation claimed after May 6, 1997 $1,642
   
 

Karen's W-2 shows her current address information. 

 

 

 

1. Look at the Form 1040 you prepared for Karen Ortega. What is the amount on Form 1040, Line 13?

 

A. $9,727.
B. $12,157.
C. $1,642. 
D. $0.

2. Look at the Form 1040 you prepared for Karen Ortega. What is the amount on Form 1040, Line 22?

 

A. $16,727.
B. $18,369.
C. $143,977. 
D. $142,335.  

3. You may qualify to exclude from your income all or part of any gain from the sale of your main home. You can choose not to take the exclusion by including the gain from the sale in your gross income on your tax return for the year of the sale. This sale can be

A. Made at any time before the expiration of a 3-year period beginning on the due date of return (not including extensions) for the year of sale.
B. Revoked at any time before the expiration of a 3-year period beginning on the due date of return (not including extensions) for the year of sale.
C. Either A or B above.
D. Exercised by by filling out Form 2116 at the time of the due date of return for the year of sale.

4. You can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain on the sale of your main home if

A. You meet the ownership test.
B. You meet the use test.
C. During the 2-year period ending on the date of the sale, you did not exclude gain from the sale of another home.
D. All of the above.

5. You should keep records to prove you home's adjusted basis. Ordinarily, you must keep records after the due date for filing you return for the tax year in which you sold your home. The record you should keep include

A. Proof of the home's purchase price and purchase expenses.
B. Receipts and other records for all improvements, additions, and other items that affect the home's adjusted basis.
C. Any worksheets you used to prepare Form 2119, such as the Adjusted Basis of Home Sold Worksheet or the Capital Improvements Worksheet from the Form 2119 instructions. 
D. All of the above.

6. You can exclude up to $500,000 of the gain on the sale of your main home if

A. You are married and file a joint return for the year. 
B. Either you or your spouse meets the ownership test and both must meet the use test.
C. During the 2-year period ending on the date of the sale, neither you nor your spouse exclude gain from the sale of another home.
D. All of the above.

7. Which of the following qualifies for exclusion from income of all or part of the gain from the sale of their main home in 2009?

A. You sold a personal residence January 1, 2008 and excluded all the gain. You sold another personal residence December 30, 2009. The reason for selling was not because of health problems or a change in employment or other special circumstances.
B. Mike and his wife moved in a brand new home February 2008. They got a divorced in December 2008 and his wife was allowed to live in the house until sold on July 15, 2009.       C. Betty sells her house (that she had owned and lived in since 2008) in February 2009 and gets married one month later. Her husband had excluded the gain on the sale of his residence on his 2006 tax return. Betty had planned this wedding since 2005.
D. You owned and lived in your house from January 1, 2008 until February 15, 2009 and then sold it February 20, 2009. The sale was not due to health problems or a change of employment or other special circumstances.

8. The required two years of having owned and lived in a principal residence within five years of the date of sale must be continuous to qualify for any part of the $500,000 exclusion.

 

True False

9. You owned and lived in your house from January 1, 2008 until February 15, 2009 and then sold it February 20, 2009. You can claim an exclusion (although reduced), if 

A. You had a change in employment.
B. You had health problems.
C. You had unforeseen circumstances.
D. Any of the above.

10. If part of your property used for business or to produce rental income is within your home, such as a room used as a home office for a business, you

A. Do not need to allocate the gain on the sale of the property between the business part of the property and the part used as a home.
B. Need to report the sale of the business or rental part on Form 4797.
C. Can exclude the part of any gain equal to any depreciation allowed after May 6, 1997.
D. You report the gain because the rental part of the property is part of your home.

11. Report gain on the sale or exchange of property held for personal use (such as your home) on Schedule D. Loss from the sale or exchange of property held for personal use is

A. Not deductible.
B. Also reported on Schedule D (Form 1040) if you received a Form 1099-S.
C. Reported on Schedule A (Form 1040).
D. Both A and B above.

12. If your spouse died and you did not remarry before the date of sale, you are considered to have owned and lived in the property as your main home during any period of time when your spouse owned and lived in it as a main home.

 

True False

13. The sale of your main home is because of health if your primary reason for the sale is

A. To obtain, provide, or facilitate the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, or treatment of disease, illness, or injury of a qualified individual.
B. To obtain or provide medical or personal care for a qualified individual suffering from a disease, illness, or injury.
C. To merely benefit a qualified individual's general health or well-being.
D. Either A or B above.

14. Unforeseen circumstances are considered to be the reason for selling your home if the following event occurred while you owned and used the property as your main home.

A. An involuntary conversion of your home, such as when your home is destroyed or condemned.
B. Natural or man-made disasters or acts of war or terrorism resulting in a casualty to your home, whether or not your loss in deductible.
C. Death, unemployment (if eligible for unemployment compensation) or a change in employment or self-employment status that results in an individual's inability to pay reasonable basic living expenses.
D. Any of the above.

15. If you sold your home that was acquired in a like-kind exchange, you cannot claim the exclusion if

A. You acquired your home in a like-kind exchange (section 1031 exchange) or your basis in your home is determined by reference to the basis of the home in the hands of the person who acquired the property in a like-kind exchange.
B. You sold the home during the 5-year period beginning with the date your home was acquired in the like-kind exchange.
C. Either A and B above.
D. You defer gain from a like-kind exchange.

16. If the buyer paid your share of the taxes (or any delinquent taxes you owed), the payment decreases the selling price of your home.

 

True False

17. If you financed your home under a federally subsidized program (loans from tax-exempt qualified mortgage bonds or loans with mortgage credit certificates), you may have to pay back all or part of the benefit you received from that program when you sell or otherwise dispose of your home.

 

True False

18. Recapture of the federal mortgage subsidy applies if

A. Your mortgage loan was a qualified home improvement loan (QHIL) of not more than $15,000 used for alterations, repairs, and improvements that protect or improve the basic livability or energy efficiency of your home.
B. Your home is destroyed by a casualty, and you replace it on its original site within 2 years after the end of the tax year when the destruction happened.
C. The home is disposed of as a result of your death.
D. None of the above.

19. To exclude gain from the sale of your home, you generally must have owned and lived in the property as your main home for at least 2 years during the 5-year period ending on the date of sale. Usually, the home you live in most of the time is your main home and it can be

A. House, mobile home or apartment.
B. Houseboat.
C. Vacant land that is owned and used as part of your main home.
D. Any of the above.

20. You own a house, but you live in another house that your rent. Your main home is

A. The house that you own.
B. The rented house is your main home.
C. Neither the rented house nor the house that you rent.
D. None of the above.

21. If you claimed the first-time homebuyer credit in 2008, you generally must repay the credit if

A. You sold the home.
B. The home stopped being your main home in 2009.
C. Either A or B above.
D. You received a gain from the sale of your home.

22. For periods on or after January 1, 2009 gain from the sale or exchange of the main home is not excludable from income if allocable to periods of non-qualified use. For this purpose, nonqualified use is

A. Where neither you nor your spouse used the property as a main home.
B. Any period of temporary absence due to change of employment, health conditions, or unforeseen circumstances.
C. Any period not to exceed 10 years, during which you or your spouse is serving or qualified official extended duty as a member of the the Uniformed services.
D. Any of the above.

23. The following is an example of using part of your property as your home and a separate part of it for business or to produce rental income.

A. A working farm on which your house was located.
B. A duplex in which you lived in one unit and rented the other.
C. A store building with an upstairs apartment in which you lived.
D. Any of the above.

24. If you financed the buyer's purchase of your home yourself, instead of having the buyer get a loan or mortgage from a bank, you probably have

A. A buyer financed mortgage.
B. An installment sale.
C. A business to produce rental income.
D. Any of the above.

25. Recapture of the Federal Mortgage subsidy applies only if you sell or otherwise dispose of your home at a gain within the first 9 years of the date you close your mortgage loan and

A. You dispose of the home more than 9 years after the date you closed your mortgage loan.
B. Your income for the year of disposition is more than that year's adjusted qualifying income for your family size for that year such as are the income requirements a person must meet to qualify for the loan.
C. You dispose of the home at a loss.
D. The home is disposed of as a result of your death.

26. You cannot deduct transfer taxes, stamp taxes, and other incidental taxes and charges on the sale of a home as itemized deductions. However, if you pay these amounts as the seller of the property, they

A. Are expenses of the sale and reduce the amount you realize on the sale.
B. Are included in the cost basis of the property.
C. Come from the proceeds of qualified mortgage bonds.
D. Reduce your federal income taxes by a mortgage interest credit.

27. You and the buyer must deduct the real estate taxes on your home for the year of sale according to the number of days in the real property tax year that each owned the home. You are treated as paying the taxes up to, but not including, the date of sale. The buyer is treated as paying the taxes

A. Beginning with the date of sale.
B. Up to the date of sale.
C. That are due for the year of sale.
D. None of the above.

28. If you sold stock as a tenant-shareholder in a cooperative housing corporation, the ownership and use tests are met if, during the 5-year period ending on the date of sale, you owned the stock for at least 2 years, and

A. The sale or exchange took place no more than 2 years after you rented out your home.
B. Your basis in the cooperative apartment used as your home is the cost of your stock in the corporation.
C. You lived in the house or apartment that the stock entitled you to occupy as your main home for at least 2 years.
D. Any of the above.

 

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