What Is a "Main Home" for Purposes of the Gain Exclusion?

May 15, 2002

You can exclude the profit on the sale of your "main home" — up to $250,000, or up to $500,000 if married filing jointly and if certain other tests are met. This tax benefit generally cannot be used more than once during a two-year period.

What is a "main home" for this purpose? Usually, the home you live in most of the time is your main home. It can be a houseboat, a mobile home, a cooperative apartment, or a condominium.

To exclude your gain, you must generally have owned and used the property as your main home for at least two years during the five-year period ending on the date of sale.

NOTE: If you sell the land on which your main home is located, but not the house itself, you cannot exclude any gain from the sale of the land.

If you have more than one home, only the sale of your main home qualifies for excluding the gain. If you have two homes and live in both of them, your main home is the one you live in most of the time.