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The Global Insight

How do you calculate capital gains on sale of primary residence?

Author

Sarah Garza

Updated on March 10, 2026

Subtract your basis from your proceeds to calculate your gain on the sale of your personal residence. In this example, subtract $330,000 from $950,000 to find your gain equals $620,000. Subtract your primary residence exclusion from the taxable gain.

What to know about the $500000 exemption?

Single filers get an exemption of $250,000 of net gain on a sale, and married couples filing jointly get $500,000. To qualify, a single seller must have owned and lived in the house for at least 24 months of the five years ending on the sale date.

How do I report Gain on sale of primary residence?

Reporting the Sale Use Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses and Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets when required to report the home sale. Refer to Publication 523 for the rules on reporting your sale on your income tax return.

How can I avoid paying tax on my house sale?

Use 1031 Exchanges to Avoid Taxes Homeowners can avoid paying taxes on the sale of their home by reinvesting the proceeds from the sale into a similar property through a 1031 exchange.

How much can you exclude from capital gains on sale of primary home?

Taxpayers can exclude up to $250,000 in capital gains on the sale of their primary residences, or up to $500,000 if they’re married and file a joint return, as of October 2020. 1. This special tax treatment is known as the Section 121 exclusion.

Do you have to pay capital gains tax on primary residence?

The answer? The capital gain on the sale needs to be apportioned between primary residence use and non-primary residence use. The R 2 million primary residence exclusion is applied to the portion of the gain, which relates to the primary residence use only. This means that you will need to pay capital gains tax on the remaining portion of the gain.

How is the sale of a home reported as a capital gain?

Reporting the Gain. If you realize a profit in excess of the exclusion amounts or don’t qualify, the income on the sale of your home is reported on Schedule D as a capital gain. If you owned your home for one year or less, the gain is reported as a short-term capital gain.

Is the sale of a primary home subject to CGT?

This concession, known as the primary residence exclusion, means that most individuals will not be subject to CGT on the sale of their primary homes. Thus, if the primary residence is sold during the 2019 year of assessment for a capital gain of R2,5 million, the first R2 million is excluded and the remaining R500 000 is subject to CGT.