Primary residence

[Otto_2000]

What is the name of your state? New York or Maine

My husband and I have a condo in New York and a home in Maine. My husband works in New York, but, I spend 6 months out of the year in Maine and he often stays for weeks with me in Maine and works from his computer.

My question is....Is NY our primary residence, or is it possible Maine is our primary residence? Does it matter which one we claim to be our primary residence? What if we wanted to sell the Maine house but haven't owned it for two years? How would that affect us as far as capital gains tax goes? I have a bank account in Maine and pay gas, electric and satellite bills year round, not to mention tax. But, we live in neither house for the entire year. Please advise.

[abezon]

Your primary residence is the residence in which you spend most of your time. It is possible your PM is Maine & his is NY. You must live in & own your primary residence ffor 2 of the last 5 years in order to exclude the capital gains on the house. If you live there 185 days a year, you'd meet the 2/5 test after about 4 years.

If you don't meet the PM test, you have to pay capital gains tax on the house when you sell. You pay on the profits after deducting you original price & the costs of selling (including commission & repairs you have to make to sell the place).

[Otto_2000]

So if I met the above criteria, living in Maine for at least 185 days per year for 4 years, and sold the house after 4 years, would we get the full exemption for married couples,($500,000) or would it be the exemption for singles,($250,000) since his primary would be considered NY? The house was appraised at approx. $500,000 two years ago and has appreciated since then.