Tax Year Prior to 2020: How should I report taxes on joint owners' house sale?

We purchased a house with my friend and sold it. We have capital gains. Since we have joint ownership, how should I report the taxes for the house?

‎June 3, 2019 11:12 AM last updated ‎May 24, 2023 10:44 AM Connect with an expert

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Tax Year Prior to 2020: How should I report taxes on joint owners' house sale?

Each of you should report your share of the sale on your individual tax returns. Determine your share of the selling price, sales expenses, purchase price, purchase date, and purchase expenses. Each of you report your portion of the sale.

If this was not your home, you should report the sale as an investment sale. Please use the steps below to report your sale.

To enter your sale under Investment Income:

  1. Choose Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Other to enter the sale.
  2. Say you didn't receive a brokerage statement.
  3. On Choose the type of investment you sold check Everything Else.
  4. Then proceed to add the information about the sale.
  5. On Tell Us How You Acquired This Property .
  6. Continue through the entire section.
  7. Click the image attached to enlarge and view for assistance.

If this was your home you will report it as a sale of your home which may allow an exclusion depending on the amount of time you lived there and the amount of the gain.

If you made money on the sale of your house, we can help you find out if this profit is tax-free, up to $250,000 ($500,000 for married filing jointly). In your case you would each report half of the sale, purchase price, sales and purchase expenses.

Ownership : Determine whether you meet the ownership requirement. If you owned the home for at least 24 months (2 years) during the last 5 years leading up to the date of sale (date of the closing), you meet the ownership requirement.

Residence : Determine whether you meet the residence requirement. If your home was your residence for at least 24 of the months you owned the home during the 5 years leading up to the date of sale, you meet the residence requirement. The 24 months of residence can fall anywhere within the 5-year period. It doesn't even have to be a single block of time. All you need is a total of 24 months (730 days) of residence during the 5-year period.

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