I'm getting screwed by the Republican tax bill

[Scott R Nelson]

I've been searching for information on this, and the following link to the Washington Post at least clarifies my issue as simply as possible: https://www.washingtonpost.com/reale...=.5246c592784c

Under the Republican proposal, the two-out-of-five standard would vanish. Instead, you’d need to live in and use the property as your main residence for five of the preceding eight years — a requirement designed to lower the number of people eligible to claim the exclusion. This would inevitably hurt middle-income and other families who were forced to sell their houses because of job transfers or medical reasons, as well as first-time buyers moving up to a new home a few years after purchase as their families expand. The bill also would limit use of the tax-free exclusion to once every five years, up from the current two years.

I've owned my current home since 1989 - 28 years. However, I moved to another town due to job changes from mid-2011 to mid-2016 - five years in total. Next June I will have been back in my longtime home for two years. But there is a good chance that the proposed tax bill will change the rules on me before I can sell my home, so I'll owe an extra $100K or so in taxes because of it. I'm not going to stay for five years to meet the new rules - at which point they could have changed it again anyway.

I've been an independent for many years now, believing that neither party really represents me very well. It's almost enough to push me into joining the Democrats.

/End of Rant :rant:

[old_gregg]

and guess what the best part is: the relatively low cap on excludible gain ensures that it’s going to ding middle class folks the worst!

[Scott R Nelson]

According to the latest New York Times:

What’s in the Tax Bill, and How It Will Affect You

What Did Not Change

CAPITAL GAINS WHEN SELLING A HOME - With some exceptions, a married couple filing their taxes jointly can exclude up to $500,000 in capital gains on the sale of a home, as long as they have used it as a primary residence for at least two of the last five years. A single individual can exclude up to $250,000. The House and Senate both proposed to make this rule more strict, but neither provision prevailed, and the rule will remain the same.

So it looks like I'm unscrewed after all. At least for this one. I'm glad somebody in the Republican Party kept this change from going through.

My feelings toward the Republicans will not be quite as negative from here on.