While you may have heard that the new tax law – passed by Congress in December 2017 – will have an impact on those who are obtaining home mortgages, as well as those who have home equity loans, what many people are not aware of is the fact that this ruling could also impact those who are planning on selling a home, as well as on moving expenses that may or may not be deducted.
Under previous law, the seller of a primary residence was able to exclude $250,000 of gain (if single) or $500,000 of gain (if married and filing their taxes jointly) – provided that they had lived in the home for at least two of the past five years.
The good news is that under the new tax law, these rules will remain the same – even though the Senate and the House had initially proposed that the seller must have resided in the home for at least five of the past eight years in order to qualify for the gain exclusion.
For those who have been able to deduct their moving expenses in the past, based on the distance and reason for the move, this could change going forward. For instance, if you moved due to a change in your job or business location, or because you started a new business or job, then you may have been able to deduct your “reasonable” costs of doing so. Now, however, starting with the 2018 year and based on the new tax law, only those who are in the military will be able to take a deduction in this category.
If you’ve been considering selling your current home, give us a call. We will help you through each step of the process, beginning with a free, no obligation value analysis of your current property, as well as a viable marketing plan for getting your property sold fast.
