Capital Gains Tax on Real Estate
Many people know the basics of the capital gains tax. Gains on the sale of personal or investment property held for more than one year are taxed at favorable capital gains rates of 0%, 15% or 20%, plus a 3.8% investment tax for people with higher incomes. Compare this with gains on the sale of personal or investment property held for one year or less, which are taxed at ordinary income rates up to 37%. But there are lots of exceptions to these general rules, with some major carveouts applying to residential real estate.
The residential real estate market is