Deferred Gain On Sale Of Home

Once upon a time, a homeowner who sold his house could defer paying taxes on the sale if he rolled the proceeds over into a new home purchase within two years.

Sounded great, but it wasn't, really. In order to qualify, the new property had to be of equal or greater value. The law was repealed in 1997 and replaced with the Home-Sale Gain Exclusion, which granted a tax exclusion of $250,000 to single homeowners ($500,000 for married folks) regardless of whether or not they bought another home.