Principal Residence

Members of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants are answering readers' tax questions in advance of the April 17 filing deadline. Can I still claim an exclusion on capital gains on the sale of a home I have lived in for 30 years although I have a second home that is now my principal residence? If the house you sold was your principal residence for any 24 months out of the past five years, it qualifies for up to a $250,000 capital gains exclusion ($500,000 if married filing jointly)

The reminders are coming more frequently now, but plenty of homeowners don't seem to have gotten the message. More than 100,000 Maryland homeowners haven't yet applied for a property-tax break known as the homestead credit , which this year is reducing the average Baltimore recipient's bill by more than $1,000. Some owners have received the break for years, but they'll lose it next tax year if they don't turn in an application by Dec. 31. The General Assembly voted the requirement into law five years ago in an effort to root out homestead credits going to non-homesteads such as rentals.

A FEDERAL court decision is focusing new light on an issue that could affect large numbers of American homeowners who expect to cash in their equity tax-free. In a nutshell: Is it possible for you to own two or more homes, but fail to qualify any one of them as your "principal residence" for federal capital gains tax purposes? Could you be forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars in capital gains taxes because you have multiple homes, but no principal residence? A U.S. District Court in Arizona says the answer is yes. And that answer should set off alarm bells among the millions of Americans who own at least two houses, and plan to pocket hefty sale profits tax-free from one or more of them.

Circuit Court Clerk Frank M. Conaway Sr. has paid more than $3,600 in back property taxes on a rental home he owns, months after it emerged that he'd wrongly been receiving a homestead tax break on the house for years. "I was very happy to pay it, to tell you the truth," he said Tuesday. "If I owed it, I wanted to pay it. " Conaway paid the bill Dec. 21, the same day city finance officials were quoted in a Baltimore Sun article saying they were still awaiting a check from him. Conaway says that's the first time he knew how much money he owed.

Q: I've recently settled on a house. Are there things that I need to do now in order to minimize my capital gains taxes when I eventually sell my home?Wanda Fowler, NorthwoodA: Any profit from the sale of a home can add to your tax burden. You may reduce taxes by being aware of several guidelines.Be sure to keep a good record of improvements to both the inside and outside of your home. By saving receipts for all home and landscaping improvements, you will ensure that your home's tax basis is not understated nor your gain overstated.

Some readers have inquired about capital gains taxes on the sale of a residence. One reader writes that she sold her Glyndon home to her daughter in July. There was no down payment and the reader is carrying the mortgage. Her daughter is repaying the loan at the rate of $300 a month plus interest. The reader asks if she has to pay capital gains taxes on the sale. Another reader writes that she has owned a house in New York since 1990. In 1993, she married and moved to Maryland. She rented the house until 2002, when she returned to New York and moved back into the home.

Normally, the tax on all or part of the gain from the sale of a principal residence may be avoided or postponed by acquiring a new residence within a 48-month rollover period.Under most circumstances, a taxpayer must buy a new home or build another one and use it as a principal residence within two years before or after selling the old one. The length of the replacement period is modified for members of the military or people living abroad.To benefit from the provision, the replacement home's cost must equal or exceed the adjusted sale price of the old home.

Some highlights of three laws approved during the Maryland General Assembly's 2004 session: Security deposit interest The Maryland Landlord-Tenant law required landlords of residential properties to accrue simple interest on tenants' security deposits of $50 or more. The law, which took effect Oct. 1, lowers the annual interest rate from 4 percent to 3 percent (House Bill 723). Displaying the U.S. flag Some condominiums, co-ops and subdivisions have restrictive covenants that prohibit or restrict owners and tenants from displaying insignia, including flags, on the exterior of their homes or residential apartments.

The ink is barely dry on the 1997 tax law, but creative accountants and tax lawyers already have spotted ways for homeowners -- and other real estate owners -- to reap benefits beyond what even Congress might have contemplated.Tops on the list: Call it the serial home-sale strategy.It could save some property owners hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of years.The technique has potential applicability to homeowners who also own a second house or condo, a vacation house or any rental residential property.

Deep in the nearly 700 pages of the new housing bill just signed into law is a complicated tax-code change that could affect substantial numbers of people who purchase second homes or rental investment real estate in the coming decade with an eye to occupying them as their main residence later. The bill narrows the use of the code's tax-free exclusion that allows sellers of principal residences to escape taxation on the first $500,000 of their profits (married joint-filers) or $250,000 (single-filers)

I'm confused. Republican also-ran gubernatorial candidate Brian Murphy is trying to convince us that Warren Buffett was wrong when he told Congress he ought to be taxed more ("Warren Buffett is wrong," Aug 25). Mr. Murphy attempted to demonstrate that Warren Buffett is wrong primarily by claiming that the Maryland millionaire's tax has caused many millionaires to flee from the state. However, now comes word that Representatives Xavier Becerra (D-California) and Peter Visclosky (D-Indiana)

City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young pledged Friday to repay government coffers if a review by City Solicitor George Nilson finds that he or his sister improperly benefitted from a program meant to help secure replacement housing for city residents displaced by urban renewal projects. "If the city solicitor says there's any repayment, it will be paid," Young told The Baltimore Sun, adding that he asked Nilson to look into the circumstances around his co-ownership of the East Baltimore rowhouse in question.

H omebuyer tax credits on paper are simple, but as it turns out, our lives aren't. Over the past year, the homebuyer credits generated more questions from readers than any topic on our Consuming Interests blog. Readers were unsure whether they qualified for a credit, often because of messy family situations or messy finances. Congress complicated matters when it expanded the first-time buyer credit that's worth up to $8,000 for those who haven't owned a house in the previous three years.

The first-time homebuyer credit was expanded more than a month ago so that even some longtime homeowners could claim up to $6,500 if they bought a new principal residence. But as the weeks went by, a huge nagging question remained: Must both spouses qualify for the $6,500 credit, or can a couple claim it if only one of them meets the necessary conditions? On Monday, the Internal Revenue Service finally weighed in. The agency said that both spouses must meet the criteria to claim the credit.

The developer of the Ritz-Carlton Residences said it sold a huge penthouse unit for $12.6 million Wednesday, an important deal for the struggling Inner Harbor project - and one that smashes previous records for Baltimore condo sales. Tom Clancy's attorney confirmed Thursday morning that the author purchased the penthouse. The nearly 12,000-square-foot residence was originally three separate penthouses, combined by developer RXR Realty at the buyer's request. Lowell R. Bowen, an attorney with Miles & Stockbridge, declined to discuss Clancy's reason for the purchase.

The economic stimulus package, particularly the first-time homebuyer credit, generates lots of questions to our consumer blog, Consuming Interests. Tax professionals Theresa M. Bandell, director of Stegman & Co. in Baltimore, and Mark Steber, vice president of tax resources at Jackson Hewitt in Sarasota, Fla., provided these answers: Question: : Does the credit of 30 percent on an energy-related investments - windows, furnaces, insulation - up to...

I'm confused. Republican also-ran gubernatorial candidate Brian Murphy is trying to convince us that Warren Buffett was wrong when he told Congress he ought to be taxed more ("Warren Buffett is wrong," Aug 25). Mr. Murphy attempted to demonstrate that Warren Buffett is wrong primarily by claiming that the Maryland millionaire's tax has caused many millionaires to flee from the state. However, now comes word that Representatives Xavier Becerra (D-California) and Peter Visclosky (D-Indiana)

Dear Mr. Gisriel: I've recently settled on a house. Are there some things that I need to do or be aware of now in order to minimize or eliminate my paying capital gains taxes when I eventually sell my home -- whether I purchase another or not?Thomas BuhlSykesvilleDear Mr. Buhl: Any profit from the sale of a home can create a potential tax burden. You may reduce taxes by being aware of several guidelines.Be sure to keep a good record of improvements to both the inside and outside of your home.

WASHINGTON -Rep. Pete Stark, a California Democrat and dean of the California congressional delegation, has claimed his Maryland home as his principal residence to qualify for the $3,770 homestead tax credit, even though it is thousands of miles from the Northern California district he represents - and where he is registered to vote. A senior member of the House tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, Stark said he was unaware that he might not be eligible for the tax break. Asked whether it was questionable for him to receive it, he said, "I guess it is."

I am the co-executor of an estate of a relative and was left the house in the will. We have been unable to sell the house. I've been paying the mortgage and costs for a couple of years. I recently decided to move into the house. Will the mortgage companies (original and equity lenders) transfer the house into my name and qualify me for a new mortgage based on my credit? Is it possible to avoid closing costs? What is the best way to approach the mortgage companies? What is the best and easiest way to transfer ownership of the house to me?