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Should I Close on Home Sale in 2007 or 2008?

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BandM

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Ohio

A month ago we purchased and moved into a home here in Ohio. Just last night we concluded negotiations on the sale of our previous home in another state (we lived in the house for 25 years and it's been vacant for the past month), and the buyers want to close on or before 1/2/08.

The opportunity exists to influence whether the closing will be in 2007 or 2008. Generally speaking, are there any tax advantages to close in one year instead of the other?

Thanks.

- BandM
 
Last edited:


abezon

Senior Member
Since you refer to "we" I assume you are a married couple. Unless you made over $500,000 of profit on the home sale or claimed depreciation after May 1997, none of the gains are taxable & it doesn't matter when you close the sale. If you're not married, the exclusion is $250,000 per owner. If you have taxable gains, it's just a matter of when you want the income spike to hit your return. It probably wouldn't matter anyway since you'll be using the same capital gains tax rates in either year, but you'd need to see a local tax pro to find out if anything else on your return would be affected.
 

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