November 27, 2017

4 Best Ways to Avoid Capital Gains on your South Nashua house for sale

Here are four simple ways to avoid capital gains on your house sale! No one likes taxes, unless you are getting a tax return of course. Capital gains are a tax that you have to pay when you sell something for more than you paid for it. In this case we will use your South Nashua home as the example. Say you buy your South Nashua home for $250,000, and then you sell your South Nashua home for sale a year later for $275,000. That is considered a capital gain, and you have to include them when you file your taxes.

Wait Before You Sell

If you want to purchase a South Nashua home for sale as a primary residence, and later you decide it isn’t the right fit for you and your family and you want to sell it, you should wait at least two years before you do so. As long as it has been your primary residence for two of the last five years, will remove any gain you may make under $250,000. For a married couple it is even more, up to $500,000 at $250,000 per person.

A one year wait will also mark the value of other sales as a long-term capital gain, and you may even save 10%-20% depending on your tax rate. However, we always suggest asking your accountant, it doesn’t hurt to check with your local CPA to make sure the rules have not changed and that you are still making a sound decision.

Sell When Your Income Is Low

Your income level will impact the amount of long-term capital gains tax you will pay. The lower your income percentage is, the less money you will pay when tax time rolls around. The higher your income tax bracket, or the more you make yearly, the more you will be required to pay come the end of the year. People in the 25-35% income bracket pay around 15% on capital gains, while taxpayers in the 39.6% bracket pay 20%, and  in the 10%-15% bracket you may not be required to pay any long-term capital gains at all.

You are best off to sell your property when your household income is the lowest so you can avoid paying capital gains tax at all. However, that is not always possible so always discuss it further with your CPA to make sure you are selling at the right time.

Keep Your Home Improvement Receipts

Keep all your records! Make sure to keep receipts for any home improvements or additions you’ve made to your South Nashua home for sale over the years that you have lived there, or while you owned your South Nashua home. In addition to increasing your home’s value, any improvements that you make to your home increase your basis in the home and that will reduce your capital gains tax.

This tax-savings strategy can be particularly valuable! If you have a gain on your South Nashua home for sale and the house doesn’t qualify for the primary residence exclusion, or you’ve exceeded your exclusion amount it may come in handy.

An improvement is anything that betters your home. It could also restore your South Nashua home to a previous condition or adapt the condition it is in. Adding rooms, a deck, a pool, or even landscaping the property all count as improvements to your South Nashua home for sale. Upgrading windows and doors, plumbing, insulation, heating, cooling, wiring, irrigation or an indoor sprinkler system also qualify. Restoring damaged parts of your home, remodels including new kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, and built-in appliances are also improvements that are deductible. Retain copies of receipts and records and keep a log of all the purchases you’ve made.

Move Often

Although this can be time consuming, selling your South Nashua home for sale will help you use the capital gain to its fullest potential. You need to have lived in your house for at least two years to claim the exclusion. The IRS will allow taxpayers to use the exclusion multiple times, but no more than once every two years. This means you could sell multiple homes at a large gain and never pay a dime in taxes!

The capital gain exclusion is large enough that many taxpayers will never have to pay taxes on the sale of their Sale Nashua homes or for that matter wherever you live. AS stated previously, a married couple can exclude up to $500,000 or $250,000 each. However, if you’ve held your property for a long time, bought in desirable area, or you are single then the exclusion may not completely cover your gains.

If you are looking for a South Nashua New Hampshire home for sale give Harmony Real Estate a call at (603) 883-8840. You can also visit our website at www.Harmony-RE.com for a list of South Nashua homes for sale. Our team is a family and we will make sure you find a home that best suits your needs! We look forward to hearing from you!

No one likes taxes, unless you are getting a tax return of course. Capital gains are a tax that you have to pay when you sell something for more than  you paid for it. In this case we will use your South Nashua home as the example. Say you buy your South Nashua home for $250,000, and then you sell your South Nashua home for sale a year later for $275,000. That is considered a capital gain, and you have to include them when you file your taxes.


Here are a few simple ways to avoid capital gains!



Wait Before You Sell

If you want to purchase a South Nashua home for sale as a primary residence, and later you decide it isn’t the right fit for you and your family and you want to sell it, you should wait at least two years before you do so. As long as it has been your primary residence for two of the last five years, will remove any gain you may make under $250,000. For a married couple it is even more, up to $500,000 at $250,000 per person.


A one year wait will also mark the value of other sales as a long-term capital gain, and you may even save 10%-20% depending on your tax rate. However, we always suggest asking your accountant, it doesn’t hurt to check with your local CPA to make sure the rules have not changed and that you are still making a sound decision.



Sell When Your Income Is Low

Your income level will impact the amount of long-term capital gains tax you will pay. The lower your income percentage is, the less money you will pay when tax time rolls around. The higher your income tax bracket, or the more you make yearly, the more you will be required to pay come the end of the year. People in the 25-35% income bracket pay around 15% on capital gains, while taxpayers in the 39.6% bracket pay 20%, and  in the 10%-15% bracket you may not be required to pay any long-term capital gains at all.


You are best off to sell your property when your household income is the lowest so you can avoid paying capital gains tax at all. However, that is not always possible so always discuss it further with your CPA to make sure you are selling at the right time.



Keep Records of Home Improvements

Keep all your records! Make sure to keep receipts for any home improvements or additions you’ve made to your South Nashua home for sale over the years that you have lived there, or while you owned your South Nashua home. In addition to increasing your home’s value, any improvements that you make to your home increase your basis in the home and that will reduce your capital gains tax.


This tax-savings strategy can be particularly valuable! If you have a gain on your South Nashua home for sale and the house doesn’t qualify for the primary residence exclusion, or you’ve exceeded your exclusion amount it may come in handy.


An improvement is anything that betters your home. It could also restore your South Nashua home to a previous condition or adapt the condition it is in. Adding rooms, a deck, a pool, or even landscaping the property all count as improvements to your South Nashua home for sale. Upgrading windows and doors, plumbing, insulation, heating, cooling, wiring, irrigation or an indoor sprinkler system also qualify. Restoring damaged parts of your home, remodels including new kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, and built-in appliances are also improvements that are deductible. Retain copies of receipts and records and keep a log of all the purchases you’ve made.



Move Often

Although this can be time consuming, selling your South Nashua home for sale will help you use the capital gain to its fullest potential. You need to have lived in your house for at least two years to claim the exclusion. The IRS will allow taxpayers to use the exclusion multiple times, but no more than once every two years. This means you could sell multiple homes at a large gain and never pay a dime in taxes!


The capital gain exclusion is large enough that many taxpayers will never have to pay taxes on the sale of their Sale Nashua homes or for that matter wherever you live. AS stated previously, a married couple can exclude up to $500,000 or $250,000 each. However, if you’ve held your property for a long time, bought in desirable area, or you are single then the exclusion may not completely cover your gains.


If you are looking for a South Nashua New Hampshire home for sale give Harmony Real Estate a call at (603) 883-8840. You can also visit our website at www.Harmony-RE.com for a list of Soth Nashua homes for sale. Our team is a family and we will make sure you find a home that best suits your needs! We look forward to hearing from you!