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July 8, 2023
Question

2 out of 5 years rule entry....Please help!

  • July 8, 2023
  • 2 replies
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I lived in a property for 2 years, then converted to rental for next 2 years.  Sold property and know I qualify for capital gain exemption, except for recapturing the depreciation.  Trying to enter into TurboTax, but system keeps showing long term capital gains as rental property and not exclusion as homeowner.  What the heck am I doing wrong?  Can anyone walk me through the entry process for converted rental property that is sold mid year, but qualifies for 2 out of 5 year exemption?  Been trying to get to work for 2 days.  Thanks a TON! 

    2 replies

    Employee
    July 8, 2023

    Hopefully, you are entering this transaction in the Rental Properties and Royalties section of the program.

     

    If not, please state how you are entering this transaction. If so, then you are likely missing the screen below.

     

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    Carl11_2
    Employee
    July 9, 2023

    This should help.

    Reporting the Sale of Rental Property

    If you qualify for the "lived in 2 of last 5 years" capital gains exclusion, then when prompted you WILL indicate that this sale DOES INCLUDE the sale of your main home. For AD MIL personnel who don't qualify because of PCS orders, select this option anyway, because you "MIGHT" qualify for at last a partial exclusion.

    Start working through Rental & Royalty Income (SCH E) "AS IF" you did not sell the property. One of the screens near the start will have a selection on it for "I sold or otherwise disposed of this property in  2021". Select it. After you select the "I sold or otherwise disposed of this property in 2021" you continue working it through "as if" you still own it. When you come to the summary screen you will enter all of your rental income and expenses, even if it's zero. Then you MUST work through the "Sale of Property/Depreciation" section. You must work through each individual asset one at a time to report its disposition (in your case, all your rental assets were sold).

    Understand that if more than the property itself is listed in your assets list, then you need to allocate your sales price across all of your assets.  You will only allocate the structure sales price; you will NOT allocate the land sales price, since the land is not a depreciable asset.  Then if you sold this rental at a gain, you must show a gain on all assets, even if that gain is $1 on some assets. Likewise, if you sold at a loss then you must show a loss on all assets, even if that loss is $1 on some assets.

    Basically, when working through an asset you select the option for "I stopped using this asset in 2021" and go from there. Note that you MUST do this for EACH AND EVERY asset listed.

    When you finish working through everything listed in the assets section, if you ever at any time you owned this rental you claimed vehicle expenses, then you must also work through the vehicle section and show the disposition of the vehicle. Most likely, your vehicle disposition will be "removed for personal use", as I seriously doubt you sold your vehicle as a part of this rental sale.

    July 9, 2023

    Thanks so so much for replies.  I will take another shot at it in the morning.  

    July 9, 2023

    Do I also need to enter information into the "Sale of Business Property" section since I qualify for the 2 out 5 year home gain exclusion...or is it automatically taken care of in Turbo Tax?   Will TurboTax automatically calculate the depreciation recovery and tax appropriately, or do I need to do something there?  Thanks again.  I am new to Turbo Tax but learning thanks to you all.