Claiming earlier roll over exemption

Yes, if you did postpone the gain on your home. You would have filed Form 2119 for 1993 to show the postponement. You were allowed to postpone the if you purchased a more expensive home with the gain of your old home.

Homeowners should keep records to prove their home’s adjusted basis. Ordinarily, an owner must keep records for three years after the due date for filing their return for the tax year in which the owner sold his or her home. But, if the owner sold a home before May 7, 1997, and postponed tax on any gain, the basis of that home affects the basis of the new home he or she bought. Owners should keep records proving the basis of both homes as long as they are needed for tax purposes.

 The records individuals should keep include: 

• Proof of the home’s purchase price and purchase expenses; 

• Receipts and other records for all improvements, additions, and other items that affect the home’s adjusted basis; 

• Any worksheets that the owner used to figure the adjusted basis of the home he or she sold, the gain or loss on the sale, the exclusion, and the taxable gain; 

• Any Form 982 the owner filed to report any discharge of qualified principal residence indebtedness; 

• Any Form 2119, Sale of Your Home, that the owner filed to postpone gain from the sale of a previous home before May 7, 1997; and 

• Any worksheets the owner used to prepare Form 2119, such as the Adjusted Basis of Home Sold Worksheet or the Capital Improvements Worksheet from the Form 2119 instructions, or other source of computations.