If you sell or exchange your main home, you may have to pay tax on all or part of the gain. But the tax on the entire gain from the sale usually must be postponed if, within a specified period of time, you buy or build, and live in your new main home and it costs at least as much as the adjusted sales price of your old home. Refer to Topic 702 for more information on postponement of gain.

If you are 55 or older on the date of the sale or exchange of your home, you may be able to exclude part or all of the gain. Refer to Topic 703 for more information on this exclusion of gain.

Whether or not you have a gain, you must attach Form 21194], Sale of Your Home, to your Form 1040 for the year of the sale, reporting the sale of your home. You cannot deduct a loss on the sale of your home.

If you sold your home under a contract that provides for part or all of the selling price to be paid in a later year, you made an "installment sale." Refer to Topic 706 for more information.

For additional information, refer to Publication 523, Selling Your Home.

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