International money transfer and taxes

[whattodo2008]

What is the name of your state? Florida

Hi All,
First time poster.

My wife is from Colombia and we are in the process of selling her house in Bogota so that we can put a downpayment on a house here in the states. Possibly Florida. We are guessing that the sale may by around $20K to $25K US. I am trying to figure out the best way to get the money to the US and the best way to avoid or minimize the taxes on this. Would I need to pay a capital gains or income tax on this if I turn around and apply it to a home? What is the best way to transfer the money here? Simple wire transfer or go fly there and pick it up? Is there some other methods?

Thanks in advance.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Florida

Hi All,
First time poster.

My wife is from Colombia and we are in the process of selling her house in Bogota so that we can put a downpayment on a house here in the states. Possibly Florida. We are guessing that the sale may by around $20K to $25K US. I am trying to figure out the best way to get the money to the US and the best way to avoid or minimize the taxes on this. Would I need to pay a capital gains or income tax on this if I turn around and apply it to a home? What is the best way to transfer the money here? Simple wire transfer or go fly there and pick it up? Is there some other methods?

Thanks in advance.

If the home was her primary residence for two of the last five years, then she is entitled to a 250k capital gains exclusion. Otherwise yes, it would be subject to capital gains tax. A simple wire transfer is a perfectly acceptable way to get the money here.

 

[whattodo2008]

Thanks for the feedback,

She has owned the house in Bogota for about 10 years and is/was her primary residence. The caveat to this is she has been here in the states with me since 2005 and she has been renting the property since then. I am not sure if this changes things.
When the wire transfer happens what kind of docuementation would we need. The bill of sale of the property or other.

Thanks.