Usually, the home you live in most of the time is your main home and can be a:

• House,
• Houseboat,
• Mobile home,
• Cooperative apartment, or
• Condominium.

To exclude gain under the rules of this chapter, you generally must have owned and used the property as your main home for at least 2 years during the 5-year period ending on the date of sale.

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

Example. On March 3, 1998, you sell the land on which your main home is located. You buy another piece of land and move your house to it. This sale is not considered a sale of your main home, and you cannot exclude tax on any gain on the sale.

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

Example 1. You own and live in a house in town. You also own a beach house, which you use in the summer months. The town house is your main home; the beach house is not.

Example 2. You own a house, but you live in another house that you rent. The rented home is your main home.

Property used partly as your home. If you use only part of the property as your main home, the rules discussed in this chapter apply only to the gain or loss on the sale of that part of the property. For details, see Property used partly as your home and partly for business or rental under Business Use or Rental of Home, later.

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