If you’re selling your home, don’t forget about taxes
Traditionally, spring and summer are popular times for selling a home. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in a slowdown in sales. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that existing home sales in April decreased year-over-year, 17.2% from a year ago. One bit of good news is that home prices are up. The median existing-home price in April was $286,800, up 7.4% from April 2019, according to the NAR.
If you’re planning to sell your home this year, it’s a good time to review the tax considerations.
Some gain is excluded
If you’re selling your principal residence, and you meet certain requirements, you can exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 for joint filers) of gain. Gain that qualifies for the exclusion is also excluded from the 3.8% net investment income tax.
To be eligible for the exclusion, you must meet these tests:
- The ownership test. You must have owned the property for at least two years during the five-year period ending on the sale date.
- The use test. You must have used the property as a principal residence for at least two years during the same five-year period. (Periods of ownership and use don’t need to overlap.)
In addition, you can’t use the exclusion more than once every two years.
Larger gains
What if you have more than $250,000/$500,000 of profit when selling your home? Any gain that doesn’t qualify for the exclusion generally will be taxed at your long-term capital gains rate, provided you owned the home for at least a year. If you didn’t, the gain will be considered short term and subject to your ordinary-income rate, which could be more than double your long-term rate.
Here are two other tax considerations when selling a home:
- Keep track of your basis. To support an accurate tax basis, be sure to maintain complete records, including information on your original cost and subsequent improvements, reduced by any casualty losses and depreciation claimed based on business use.
- Be aware that you can’t deduct a loss. If you sell your principal residence at a loss, it generally isn’t deductible. But if a portion of your home is rented out or used exclusively for your business, the loss attributable to that part may be deductible.
If you’re selling a second home (for example, a beach house), it won’t be eligible for the gain exclusion. But if it qualifies as a rental property, it can be considered a business asset, and you may be able to defer tax on any gains through an installment sale or a Section 1031 like-kind exchange. In addition, you may be able to deduct a loss.
For many people, their homes are their most valuable asset. So before selling yours, make sure you understand the tax implications. We can help you plan ahead to minimize taxes and answer any questions you have about your home sale.
© 2020 Covenant CPA
- Published in Household, Individual
Selling your home? Consider these tax implications
Spring and summer are the optimum seasons for selling a home. And interest rates are currently attractive, so buyers may be out in full force in your area. Freddie Mac reports that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 4.14% during the week of May 2, 2019, while the 15-year mortgage rate was 3.6%. This is down 0.41 and 0.43%, respectively, from a year earlier.
But before you contact a realtor to sell your home, you should review the tax considerations.
Sellers can exclude some gain
If you’re selling your principal residence, and you meet certain requirements, you can exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 for joint filers) of gain. Gain that qualifies for the exclusion is also excluded from the 3.8% net investment income tax.
To qualify for the exclusion, you must meet these tests:
- The ownership test. You must have owned the property for at least two years during the five-year period ending on the sale date.
- The use test. You must have used the property as a principal residence for at least two years during the same five-year period. (Periods of ownership and use don’t need to overlap.)
In addition, you can’t use the exclusion more than once every two years.
Handling bigger gains
What if you’re fortunate enough to have more than $250,000/$500,000 of profit when selling your home? Any gain that doesn’t qualify for the exclusion generally will be taxed at your long-term capital gains rate, provided you owned the home for at least a year. If you didn’t, the gain will be considered short term and subject to your ordinary-income rate, which could be more than double your long-term rate.
Other tax issues
Here are some additional tax considerations when selling a home:
Keep track of your basis. To support an accurate tax basis, be sure to maintain thorough records, including information on your original cost and subsequent improvements, reduced by any casualty losses and depreciation claimed based on business use.
Be aware that you can’t deduct a loss. If you sell your principal residence at a loss, it generally isn’t deductible. But if part of your home is rented out or used exclusively for your business, the loss attributable to that portion may be deductible.
If you’re selling a second home (for example, a vacation home), be aware that it won’t be eligible for the gain exclusion. But if it qualifies as a rental property, it can be considered a business asset, and you may be able to defer tax on any gains through an installment sale or a Section 1031 exchange. Or you may be able to deduct a loss.
Your home is probably your largest investment. So before selling it, make sure you understand the tax implications. We can help you plan ahead to minimize taxes and answer any questions you have about your situation. Call or email us- 205-345-9898, info@covenantcpa.com.
© 2019 CovenantCPA
- Published in Estate Planning, Tax Returns
How fraud can scuttle the purchase of your dream home
Buying a home is stressful enough without also having to worry about potential fraud. Unfortunately, real estate fraud is surging. According to Realtor magazine, scams targeting the industry rose 1,100% from 2015 to 2017, resulting in losses of more than $1.6 billion.
Home closing wire fraud should be of particular concern for prospective homebuyers. When schemes are successful, criminals can make off with buyers’ hard-earned down payments — several hundred thousand dollars’ worth in some cases. Here’s how to avoid losing the home of your dreams and the money with which to buy it.
The scoop
Home closing wire fraud involves hackers who typically use real estate agents’ email accounts to trick homebuyers into wiring money. Perpetrators send phishing messages containing links that, if clicked on, install malware. The hackers then infiltrate the agent’s email account and send messages to clients who are about to close on a home. Emails instruct buyers to wire closing funds to a specified account. Once the money is wired, the crooks quickly liquidate it. In most cases, the wired money isn’t recoverable.
Hackers also may target the email accounts of title companies, lenders, attorneys and sellers, and the process is the same. The criminals monitor emails to learn details about potential homebuyers and deals in progress and to learn how to create messages that will look and sound like they’re coming from a buyer’s agent or other real estate professional.
Group effort
Preventing home closing wire fraud must be a group effort. Homebuyers need to scrutinize emails they receive from their agents, attorneys and title companies. And those professionals need to ensure their accounts aren’t hacked in the first place.
Prospective buyers should ask their agents whether they’re aware of wire fraud scams and how they protect against them. For example, does the real estate company train agents to spot fraudulent emails? What type of firewall, antivirus and antimalware software does it use?
Many companies go to great lengths to prevent this type of fraud. They may, for example:
- Prohibit their agents from emailing wiring instructions,
- Require buyers to pay closing costs with a cashier’s check rather than a wire transfer, and
- Employ cloud-based systems to screen emails and provide an extra layer of protection for confidential information.
At the very least, homebuyers should call their agents (or other real estate industry senders) to confirm the legitimacy of any message containing fund transfer or other potentially fraudulent instructions.
Natural target
Home purchases involve large sums, which makes them a natural target for fraudsters. Awareness of fraud schemes is the first step to avoid becoming a victim of them.
Contact us at 205-345-9898 or info@covenantcpa.com.
© 2019 CovenantCPA
- Published in Fraud Prevention
Selling your business? Defer — and possibly reduce — tax with an installment sale
You’ve spent years building your company and now are ready to move on to something else, whether launching a new business, taking advantage of another career opportunity or retiring. Whatever your plans, you want to get the return from your business that you’ve earned from all of the time and money you’ve put into it.
That means not only getting a good price, but also minimizing the tax hit on the proceeds. One option that can help you defer tax and perhaps even reduce it is an installment sale.
Tax benefits
With an installment sale, you don’t receive a lump sum payment when the deal closes. Instead, you receive installment payments over a period of time, spreading the gain over a number of years.
This generally defers tax, because you pay most of the tax liability as you receive the payments. Usually tax deferral is beneficial, but it could be especially beneficial if it would allow you to stay under the thresholds for triggering the 3.8% net investment income tax (NIIT) or the 20% long-term capital gains rate.
For 2018, taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) over $200,000 per year ($250,000 for married filing jointly and $125,000 for married filing separately) will owe NIIT on some or all of their investment income. And the 20% long-term capital gains rate kicks in when 2018 taxable income exceeds $425,800 for singles, $452,400 for heads of households and $479,000 for joint filers (half that for separate filers).
Other benefits
An installment sale also might help you close a deal or get a better price for your business. For instance, an installment sale might appeal to a buyer that lacks sufficient cash to pay the price you’re looking for in a lump sum.
Or a buyer might be concerned about the ongoing success of your business without you at the helm or because of changing market or other economic factors. An installment sale that includes a contingent amount based on the business’s performance might be the solution.
Tax risks
An installment sale isn’t without tax risk for sellers. For example, depreciation recapture must be reported as gain in the year of sale, no matter how much cash you receive. So you could owe tax that year without receiving enough cash proceeds from the sale to pay the tax. If depreciation recapture is an issue, be sure you have cash from another source to pay the tax.
It’s also important to keep in mind that, if tax rates increase, the overall tax could end up being more. With tax rates currently quite low historically, there might be a greater chance that they could rise in the future. Weigh this risk carefully against the potential benefits of an installment sale.
Pluses and minuses
As you can see, installment sales have both pluses and minuses. To determine whether one is right for you and your business — and find out about other tax-smart options — please contact us at 205-345-9898.
© 2018 Covenant CPA
- Published in Business Management, Owning a Small Business