Below are some of the tax advantages of selling real estate.
The information below should be used for educational purposes only and it is not a complete list nor may it apply to your situation or circumstance. You should consult with your tax advisor to find out the tax ramification of the transaction that pertains to you.
If you have any questions or need information on any of the items below, please do not hesitate to call David Silkman, CPA, MST, Broker at 310.478.9200 x301 or email him at david@SilkRoadRealtyInc.com.
$250,000 or $500,000 Exclusion of Gain on Sale of Principal Residence
You may qualify to exclude from your income all or part of any gain from the sale of your principal residence. To qualify, you must meet the ownership and use tests. This means that during the 5-year period ending on the date of the sale, you must have owned the home (ownership test) for at least 2 years and lived in the home (use test) as your main residence for at least 2 years. If you meet both requirements, you can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain if you are single and $500,000 if married. Therefore, you can purchase a new property every two years and qualify for the gain exclusion. Other items to note:
For a brochure on selling your home, please click here.
Capital Gains Tax Rate
Generally, real estate is considered a capital asset. Therefore, it is subject to capital gains and loss taxes and rules. The maximum current federal capital gains rate is 15% compared to the ordinary maximum current federal rate of 35% which ordinary income such as salaries and earnings from a business. Therefore, when you sale real estate, the maximum federal tax you pay on the gain is only 15%, not 35%, a 20% tax savings.
The disadvantage is that if you sell the property at a loss, then under the current capital loss rules, you can only deduct $3,000 of the loss per year. You can always offset the total loss against other capital gains transactions, but only $3,000 of the loss can be offset against your ordinary income such as salaries and business earnings.
However, rental properties are not subject to the capital loss rules. Therefore, if you sell your rental property at a loss, the entire loss can be offset against your other incomes such as salaries, interest and business earnings.
For a brochure on the different tax brackets, please click here.
Deferring Your Taxes - Like-Kind Exchange - IRS Section 1031 Exchange
Under the IRS Code Section 1031, also know as like-kind exchange, you have the option of deferring your gain from the sale of your property by purchasing another "like-kind property" within the required time periods.
Like-kind means any real property for another real property. For example, you can exchange your single family rental with vacant land, a shopping center, a warehouse, a condo, another single family rental, a 20 unit apartment building or even a parking lot. Any real property qualifies.
For more information on like-kind exchanges and rental real estate as an investment, please click here.
Social Security Tax
When you sell real estate, the gain is not subject to social security tax nor is rental income. Therefore, unlike other types of incomes such as wages and self-employment earnings that is subject to social security tax as a landlord or an investor, you get to save 15.3% since your earnings is not subject to social security taxes.
Converting a Rental to a Home
A $250,000 ($500,000 for joint filers) exclusion is available to offset the gain from the sale of a taxpayer's principal residence. This exclusion can be used repeatedly, provided the eligibility requirements are met, but generally not more than once every two years.
This often tempts owners of rental properties to sell their current home - their principal residence - to utilize the exclusion, and then occupy one of their rental properties until the requirements are met to be eligible for the exclusion again. If the taxpayer owned multiple rentals, the same process could be applied to each property, allowing the individual to benefit from the exclusion numerous times.
When the rental is not a place in which the taxpayer would want to live during the qualification period, the rental can be swapped through a tax-deferred exchange for a more suitable one, which the property owner must rent out for a reasonable period of time before occupying it to meet the exclusion qualifications. These types of transactions became so popular that Congress passed two laws to make it more difficult to achieve this tax-saving strategy.
Generally, to qualify for the gain exclusion, a taxpayer must own and use the home as a primary residence for two of the five years prior to the sale. However, if the home was acquired by means of a tax-deferred exchange, Congress increased the ownership requirement from two years to five years, thereby requiring the taxpayer to wait five years before being able to qualify for the home sale gain exclusion for the exchanged property.
Beginning in 2009, Congress added yet another roadblock to this strategy by making the gain attributable to nonqualified periods nonexcludable. "Nonqualified use" is when the home isn't used as the taxpayer's principal residence. Luckily, this restriction was not implemented right away. Instead, it was phased in by only counting periods of nonqualified use beginning in 2009, and grandfathered in periods before 2009 as qualified use. However, over time, this new law will diminish the benefits from this strategy.
Keep in mind that even when a home qualifies for the home gain exclusion, the gain attributable to the depreciation allowable after May 5, 1997 on the home, and prior rental in case of an exchange, is not excludable and will be taxable.
Should You Choose a Short Sale Over a Foreclosure?
Common question asked is whether I should sale my distressed property through a short-sale or let if foreclose? Here are some of the pros and cons of each option:
Short Sale Benefits
Here are a few benefits for doing a short sale that may not have occurred to you:
Buying Again After a Short Sale
If your payments have never fallen behind 30 days late and the lender does not require that you pay back the loan, Fannie Mae guidelines may allow you to buy another home immediately. The wait for an FHA loan is 3 years.
If your payments are in arrears yet a short sale is granted by your lender, you may qualify to buy another home with a Fannie-Mae backed mortgage within two years, regardless of whether the home is your primary residence.
Buying Again After a Foreclosure
With certain restrictions, you may be eligible to buy another home in 5 years if the home was your primary residence. Without restrictions, the wait is 7 years.
If you are an investor and do not occupy the home, the wait to buy with a Fannie Mae insured loan is 7 years.
Affects on Credit After a Short Sale
A short sale is not a derogatory mark on your credit because credit bureaus do not show the word "short sale" on your credit report. It may say "pay as agreed" or "paid as less than agreed," among other categories. Some clients have reported negative FICO score drops from 50 points to 130 points.
The point drop is typically due to being in default, that is behind on your payments.
Affects on Credit After a Foreclosure
A number of sources have reported FICO score drops from 200 to 400 points after a foreclosure. Generally this credit score will remain on your credit report as a public record for 10 years.
Credit Reports After a Short Sale
All lenders report short sales differently and some do not report them to the credit bureaus at all.
Credit Reports After a Foreclosure
If a prospective employer runs a credit check on you, your job application may be denied if you have a foreclosure on your record.
Deficiency Judgments After a Short Sale
Judgments are often negotiated between the seller and the short sale bank. In some cases, such as California, if the home is your personal residence and was financed through purchase money, there is no deficiency judgment.
Deficiency Judgments After a Foreclosure
Banks are unwilling to negotiate deficiency judgments with the homeowner after a foreclosure. In California, for example, according to the California Association of REALTORS, a deficiency judgment may be filed regarding a hard-money loan if the lender forecloses under a judicial foreclosure versus a trustee sale or if the second loan is a hard money loan and the sale takes place as a trustee's sale.
Loan Application Questions After a Short Sale
Loan applications do not ask questions about a short sale. You may report that you sold your home.
Loan Application Questions After a Foreclosure
You are required to answer the question: "Have you ever had a property foreclosed upon or given a deed-in-lieu thereof in the past 7 years." If the bank sees you have had a foreclosure, your loan most likely will be denied. If you lie, you may be subject to investigation by the FBI for mortgage fraud.
Length of Time to Move After a Short Sale
If you've had a foreclosure notice filed, you may be able to postpone that action while the bank considers your short sale. The wait for short sale approval can be from 2 to 3 months, or longer.
Length of Time to Move After a Foreclosure
Unless prior arrangements have been made, the bank may want you to immediately vacate the property and can commence eviction proceedings.
Taxation After a Short Sale
A personal residence is exempt from mortgage debt relief until the end of 2012 on a federal level. Some states will still tax you unless you qualify for an exemption. An investor is not exempt from mortgage debt relief, subject to certain conditions.
Taxation After a Foreclosure
Same as with a short sale. Except some lenders immediately send out 1099s, even if the owner is exempt.
In closing, always obtain legal and tax advice before making a decision between a short sale or a foreclosure. The above analysis was obtained from http://homebuying.about.com/od/foreclosures/f/072509_Short-Sale-vs-Foreclosure.htm
Is Cancellation of Debt Income Taxable?
One question that I am asked often these days is whether cancellation of debt (COD) income is taxable or not?
For tax purposes, the general rule is that all debt that is forgiven, canceled or discharged by a lender is considered income to you. Just like everything else in our tax code, everything is income!
Furthermore, real estate that is foreclosed upon, taken back by the lender in a deed-in-lieu of a foreclosure or sold through a short sale can potentially generate two taxable events:
1. Cancellation of debt income, and/or
2. Gain or loss on the sale.
However, the cancellation of debt income could be taxable or not, depending on whether the debt is non-recourse or recourse.
Now let’s get familiar with the terms that will be used throughout this article:
Non-Recourse Debt - A debt is considered non-recourse under California law when a loan is made under either one of the following two circumstances:
1. When the loan is made to purchase a one-to-four unit property and the borrower intends to occupy at least one of the units, or
2. When the seller carries back financing for all or a portion of the purchase price of any real property.
Furthermore, non-recourse loans can apply to commercial properties as well. Besides state law, a loan could also be non-recourse as a result of provisions in the loan documents.
Therefore, in the event of default by the borrower, the lender, or financing seller, is restricted to recovering the property with no right to proceed against the borrower for any deficiency, should the property be worth less than the loan amount.
Thus, there is never cancellation of debt income to the borrower in a non-recourse debt regardless if the debt was for a personal or investment property whether foreclosed upon, taken back through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or sold through a short sale.
Recourse Debt - A debt is considered recourse when the borrower is personally liable for repayment. The lender can repossess the property but the borrower remains personally liable for any deficiency if the property does not fully repay the loan. If the lender chooses to foreclose using a trustee's sale, then the lender waives the right to go after the borrower for the deficiency despite the fact that the loan was a recourse debt. Therefore, there is no cancellation of debt income to the borrower if foreclosed on, taken back through a deed-in-lieu of a foreclosure or sold through a short sale. In order to pursue a deficiency judgment, the lender must go through a judicial foreclosure process, which can result in cancellation of debt income to the borrower. However, the cancellation of debt income may not be taxable!
Foreclosure - Foreclosure is a process that allows a lender to recover the amount owed on a defaulted loan by taking ownership (repossession) of the property securing the loan.
Deed-In-Lieu of Foreclosure - A deed in lieu of foreclosure is a deed given by the borrower (trustor) to the lender (beneficiary) to stop the foreclosure process or as a way to completely avoid the start of the foreclosure process. By accepting a deed in lieu of foreclosure, the lender avoids the costs and delays of foreclosing. However, (1) junior liens are not extinguished (a foreclosure wipes out junior liens), (2) the borrower may later try to set the conveyance (transfer) aside, and/or (3) the borrower's other creditors may argue that the conveyance was a "fraudulent conveyance", which jeopardizes their ability to satisfy their claims against the borrower. Lenders can protect themselves against hidden junior liens by obtaining an endorsement to the beneficiary's title insurance policy that places title in the beneficiary free and clear of any junior liens.
Short Sale - In essence, a short sale is a sale transaction subject to a lender's approval in which the lender consents to a sale of the security interest, the property, for less than what is owed on the note and accepts the proceeds in full satisfaction of the loan amount. The property owner still owns the property through the short sale process, not the bank.
Cancellation of Debt Income – Cancellation of debt income is usually the amount of debt forgiven, cancelled or discharged. It is considered ordinary income subject to your marginal federal and state income tax rates. Your personal marginal federal tax rate can be as high as 35% for 2010 and possibly 39.6% for 2011. Currently, California’s highest personal marginal rate is 10.55%.
Gain or Loss – For tax purposes, when a property is foreclosed upon, taken back through a deed-in-lieu of a foreclosure or sold through a short sale, a sale has occurred. Therefore, the taxpayer must calculate the gain or loss on the sale and pay the appropriate federal and state taxes. The gain or loss is the difference between your adjusted tax basis and the amount you sell the property for. Adjusted tax basis is usually your purchase price plus improvements less accumulated depreciation. This is a very basic definition of the adjusted tax basis and it is beyond the scope of this article.
The sale is usually considered a sale of a capital asset, real estate. Therefore, the gain or loss is referred to as a capital gain or loss. Furthermore, capital gain or loss is taxed differently than ordinary income or loss. Capital assets that are held for more than one year and sold at a gain are currently taxed at a maximum federal rate of 15%. Capital assets that are held for less than one year and sold for a profit are taxed at your marginal federal and state tax rates. Capital assets that are sold at a loss, short or long term, can only be offset against other capital gain incomes and the remaining balance, up to $3,000, can be offset against your ordinary income per year. The balance is carried over to future years and you do not lose it. In addition, there is no lower capital gains rate for state of California.
However, if the real estate is held for investment or for use in a trade or business, it is referred to as a Section 1231 asset. Thus when investment property is sold at a loss, the loss is treated as an ordinary loss and can be used to offset against other ordinary income such as W-2 income, business income or interest and dividends income. If the investment property is sold at a gain, the gain is considered a long-term capital gain and taxed at the lower capital gains tax rate of currently 15%. Basically, the IRS gives you the best of both worlds on investment properties. There are a couple of other issues with Section 1231 assets, such as depreciation recapture, that are beyond the scope of this article.
Finally, if a principal residence is sold at a loss, the loss is personal and nondeductible.
However, just like all other tax laws, there are exceptions to the general rule that all cancellation of debt income is taxable. Thus, some debts that are forgiven, cancelled or discharged may not be taxable if one of the allowable exclusions applies. Note, that more than one of the exclusions can apply to your transaction. Below is a list of the allowable exclusions and in the order that they must be followed. For example, if exclusion number 1 does not apply to you, you go to exclusion number 2. If that one does not apply then you go to exclusion number 3 and so on. However, the description for each item below is very brief and general in nature. Each exclusion has its own set of requirements and is beyond the scope of this article.
1. Debt Discharge Through Bankruptcy Exclusion - Debtors may get a “fresh start” in business by having some or all of their debts forgiven, cancelled, reduced or discharged. A solvent debtor outside bankruptcy must report the debt discharge amount as taxable income in the year the debt is discharged (unless one of the other exclusions listed below apply). A bankrupt or insolvent debtor does not have to report the debt discharge amount as income. But, the amount of debt that is cancelled must reduce your tax attributes.
What are Tax Attributes? – You can think of tax attributes as tax items that reduce your federal tax liability. These are the good guys. Therefore, since the government is giving you a break and not currently taxing you on the cancellation of debt income, it makes you reduce the items that help you so it can recoup its lost tax dollars in future years. The following is a list of tax attributes that must be reduced and in the following order:
1. Net Operating Loss - Any net operating loss realized in the tax year of the discharge plus any net operating loss carryover to that year must be reduced dollar-for-dollar.
2. General Business Credit - Any amount of general business credit that was carried over to or from the tax year of the discharge must be reduced by 33 1/3–cent per dollar of discharged debt.
3. Minimum Tax Credit - The amount of minimum tax credit available at the beginning of the taxable year immediately following the tax year of the discharge must be reduced by 33 1/3–cent per dollar of discharged debt.
4. Capital Loss Carryovers - Any net capital loss that was either generated for the tax year of the discharge or carried over to that year must be reduced dollar-for-dollar.
5. Basis Reduction - The basis of the property associated with the discharge reduced dollar-for-dollar.
6. Passive Activity Loss and Credit Carryovers - Any passive activity loss or credit carryover from the tax year of discharge must be reduced dollar-for-dollar for losses and reduced by 33 1/3–cent per dollar for credits of discharged debt.
7. Foreign Tax Credit Carryovers - Any carryover of foreign tax credit to or from the tax year of discharge must be reduced by 33 1/3–cent per dollar of discharged debt.
However, you can elect to forego the above ordering rule of the tax attributes and apply any portion of the cancellation of debt first to the basis of certain depreciable property (this too has its own ordering rule and is beyond the scope of this article). For example, this may be advantageous over reducing your net operating losses, which can be deducted against your ordinary income that is taxed at a higher rate, versus reducing your tax basis in your capital asset that is possibly taxed at a lower capital gains rate.
This election is designed to aid those taxpayers holding real estate that has substantially declined in value and is secured by significant debt that exceeds the property's market value. Eligible taxpayers may dispose of this property without currently recognizing income, but, in turn, they will be faced with a basis reduction. The income exclusion is available only to the extent that the taxpayer has basis in depreciable real estate before the debt discharge occurs.
2. Debt of an Insolvent Taxpayer Exclusion - A very basic definition of an insolvent taxpayer is when the taxpayer’s liabilities exceed their assets. The determination of insolvency is based on the amount of liabilities and the value of the assets immediately before the discharge of debt. But, the amount of debt that is cancelled must reduce your tax attributes as explained in exclusion number 1 above.
3. Qualified Farm Debt Exclusion - An exclusion is available for a discharge of qualified farm indebtedness by a qualified person. The exclusion for qualified farm indebtedness is not available if the taxpayer is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy or to the extent that the taxpayer is insolvent, in which case the insolvency exclusion would apply. However, taxpayers who have used the insolvency provision to the extent of their insolvency may use the qualified farm indebtedness exception for additional discharged amounts. But, the amount of debt that is cancelled must reduce your tax attributes as explained in exclusion number 1 above.
4. Qualified Real Property Business Debt Exclusion - Taxpayers other than C corporations may elect to exclude from gross income the discharge of qualified real property business indebtedness limited to the lesser of:
1. Excess of debt securing the property over FMV of property, or
2. Aggregate adjust basis of all depreciable property held by the taxpayer, either personally or through a partnership.
Amounts excluded from gross income will instead be used to reduce the taxpayer’s tax attributes stated in exclusion number 1 above, or the taxpayer can elect to decrease the basis of the taxpayer's depreciable real property. Qualified real property business indebtedness is indebtedness which:
1. Was incurred or assumed before January 1, 1993 in connection with real property used in a trade or business and is secured by that real property, or
2. After January 1, 1993, is debt incurred or assumed to acquire, construct, reconstruct or substantially improve real property used in a trade or business.
The qualified real property business indebtedness exception can apply even if you are solvent. However, the bankruptcy exclusion and the insolvency exclusion both take precedence over this exclusion.
5. Qualified Principal Residence Debt Exclusion – For federal tax purposes, qualified principal residence debt means acquisition indebtedness on the taxpayer's principal residence, up to a $2 million limit ($1 million for married individuals filing separately). Acquisition indebtedness is debt that was borrowed to acquire, construct, or substantially improve the taxpayer's principal residence and must have been secured by that residence. A principal residence is the property that the taxpayer uses a majority of the time during the year. A taxpayer can have only one principal residence at a time. This exception is good through the end of 2012 and it is applicable to foreclosures, deed-in-lieu of foreclosures, short sales, debt modification and debt reductions. Therefore, cancellation of debt income on your principal residence up to the limits stated above is not taxable.
California conforms to the federal law, but with the following changes:
(1) The maximum amount of qualified principal residence indebtedness is $800,000 for married couples filing jointly, registered domestic partners filing jointly, single persons, head of household,
widow/widower; and $400,000 for married couples or registered domestic partners filing separately, and
(2) The maximum amount of cancellation debt income that can be excluded is $500,000 for married couples filing jointly, registered domestic partners filing jointly, single persons, head of household, widow/widower; and $250,000 for married couples or registered domestic partners filing separately, and
(3) California’s debt relief statute applies to property sold on or after January 1, 2009 and before Jan. 1, 2013.
Qualifying taxpayers who have already filed their 2009 California tax returns should file Form 540X, Amended Individual Income Tax Return, to subtract the amount of debt relief from income if it was originally included.
Finally, taxpayers who qualify under this exclusion may elect to use the insolvency exclusion if they are insolvent. This may be advantageous for those who have qualified principal residence debt of more than $2 million, have recourse or nonqualified debt or will have gain in excess of their allowable Section 121 exclusion.
6. Discharge of Certain Indebtedness of a Qualified Individual Because of Midwestern Disasters – This exclusion allows affected individuals to exclude non-business debt that was forgiven by a governmental agency or certain financial institutions if the discharge occurred between the date of the disaster and January 1, 2010.
Other exceptions are:
1. The Payment of the Liability Would Have Given Rise to a Tax Deduction - The cancellation of debt income is not taxable if the debt was deductible to begin with. For example, if a lender cancels home-mortgage interest that could have been claimed as an itemized deduction on Schedule A of Form 1040, then there is no tax problem to contend with.
2. Debt Reduced After Purchase - There is no income if an individual purchases a property and the seller later reduces the loan amount. Instead, the purchaser's basis—the yardstick for measuring gain or loss when the property is sold—is reduced by the amount of the loan reduction. Additional conditions must be met and there is an ordering rule that needs to be followed.
3. Other Certain Student Loans, Disaster Victims, Gifts and General Welfare Payments – Please see below for examples of each type.
To make this stuff easier to understand, below are various examples and scenarios that apply to different types of debts and assets.
Principal Residence Debt
The taxation of cancellation of debt on your principal residence depends on whether the debt is non-recourse or recourse.
Moreover, while purchase money loans in certain states such as California, Arizona and Texas are non-recourse, refinancing the loan typically converts the debt to recourse. Also, home equity line of credit is usually a recourse loan unless otherwise agreed to.
Principal Residence Debt – Non-Recourse – Foreclosure, Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure or Short Sale - If your principal residence debt is non-recourse and the property is foreclosed on, given back to the lender through a deed-in-lieu of a foreclosure or sold through a short sale, then you do not have cancellation of debt income. Furthermore, if you do not have cancellation of debt income, then you do not need to reduce your tax attributes. You only reduce your tax attributes when you have cancellation of debt income that is not being taxed due to one of the exclusions above.
However, you may have a gain or loss on the deemed sale and it is calculated in the following manner:
Outstanding Debt (which includes the amount of cash and FMV of any property paid to the debtor)
- Adjusted Tax Basis
= Gain or Loss
Example: The fair market value of the taxpayer’s personal residence is $300,000, the outstanding balance of the debt is $450,000 and the taxpayer’s adjusted tax basis is $250,000.
Outstanding Debt $450,000
Less Adjusted Tax Basis $250,000
Equals to Gain $200,000
The taxpayer’s gain of $200,000 may be taxable unless the taxpayer qualifies for a Code Sec. 121 gain exclusion on the sale of principal residence. In general, under Code. Sec. 121, if you live in your principal residence for at least two years out of the last five years from the date of sale, the first $250,000, if single, or the first $500,000, if married, of the gain is tax free. There is more involved with Code Sec. 121 and it is beyond the scope of this article. There is no cancellation of debt income because it is a non-recourse loan.
Note that if you have a loss on the sale of your principal residence, the loss is not deductible.
One way to remember that in a non-recourse loan you have to use the amount of outstanding debt as your sales price is by keeping in mind since there is no cancellation of debt income in a non-recourse loan, the government is losing tax dollars on the cancellation of debt income that is not taxable. Therefore, in order for the government to recoup their lost tax dollars, they make you calculate the gain or loss based on the outstanding debt amount, which is usually higher than the fair market value of the property. If the fair market value was higher, then the property owner would have sold the property and satisfied the debt.
Principal Residence Debt – Recourse Debt – Foreclosure, Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure or Short Sale - If your principal residence debt is recourse and it is foreclosed on, given back to the lender through a deed-in-lieu of a foreclosure or sold through a short sale, then you do have cancellation of debt income.
The cancellation of debt income is calculated in the following manner:
Outstanding Debt
- Fair Market Value
= Cancellation of Debt Income
Furthermore, you may have a gain or loss on the sell and it is calculated in the following manner:
Fair Market Value
- Adjusted Tax Basis
= Gain or Loss
Example: As a result of nonpayment of a recourse mortgage, creditors foreclosed on taxpayer’s home. At the time of the foreclosure, taxpayer’s adjusted tax basis in the home was $170,000, the home's fair market value was $200,000, and the outstanding amount of mortgage debt on the home was $220,000.
The cancellation of debt income is calculated in the following manner:
Outstanding Debt $220,000
Less Fair Market Value $200,000
Equals to Cancellation of Debt Income $20,000
The gain or loss is calculated in the following manner:
Fair Market Value $200,000
Less Adjusted Tax Basis $170,000
Equals to Gain on Sale $30,000
Note that the cancellation of debt income may not be taxable because of one or more of the exclusions stated above. Also, the gain of $30,000 may not be taxable because of Code Sec. 121 exclusion.
One way to remember that you only have to use the fair market value as the sales price, is that when the loan is recourse, there is cancellation of debt income so the government is not losing tax dollars like on a non-recourse loan. Thus, they allow you to use the fair market value as the sales price, which is usually less than the outstanding debt.
Principal Residence Debt – Non-Recourse and Recourse Debts – Either a Foreclosure, Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure or Short Sale (Catch All) - As we all know, nothing in the real world is clear cut. There is always a “what if.” Therefore, the following examples below will address some possible scenarios of having both a non-recourse and recourse debt on a property that is either foreclosed on, taken back through a deed-in-lieu of a foreclosure or sold through a short sale. The combinations are endless so the examples below are from real cases that I had to deal with.
Example: In 2002, taxpayer bought a main home for $315,000 using a $300,000 loan that was secured by the home. In 2003, taxpayer took out a $50,000 second mortgage that was used to add a garage. Both the first and second mortgages qualify for the qualified principal residence debt exclusion because both debts were borrowed to acquire, construct, or substantially improve the taxpayer's principal residence and were secured by that residence.
Example: In 2005, the taxpayer had an original first mortgage for the amount of $325,000 and the taxpayer decided to refinance to get a better rate and take some money out since the taxpayer’s property was doubling every year. The taxpayer refinanced the first mortgage and received a new loan for $400,000. Taxpayer used $75,000 of the loan proceeds to pay credit card bills and buy a new car. Only $325,000 of the $400,000 refinanced debt qualifies under the qualified principal residence debt exclusion. The remaining balance of $75,000 is taxable as cancellation of debt income unless one of the other exclusions apply.
Example: The taxpayer purchased a condo in 2005 and lived in it as her principal residence until 2008. In 2008, the taxpayer moved to a new city and started to rent the condo through present. In 2010, the taxpayer is trying to sell the condo through a short sale. Assuming it is a non-recourse loan, the taxpayer will not have cancellation of debt income because the qualified principal residence debt exclusion would apply since the taxpayer lived in it for at least two years and it was her principal residence.
Investment Property Debt
Same rules as principal residence debt apply to investment properties, except for an investment property you cannot use the qualified principal residence debt exclusion.
If the investment property debt is non-recourse, then there is no cancellation of debt income if foreclosed on, taken back through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or sold through a short sale. If the investment property is recourse debt, then there is cancellation of debt income. Also, there is a deemed sale and either a gain or loss must be calculated on the transaction.
Example: Taxpayer purchased a multi-unit apartment building for $700,000. Over the years, the taxpayer took depreciation deductions for a total of $300,000. Therefore, the taxpayer’s adjusted tax basis is $400,000 ($700,000 - $300,000). The taxpayer owes $680,000 on the property and it is a recourse debt. The taxpayer sells the property for $660,000 through a short sale.
The taxpayer’s cancellation of debt income is calculated in the following manner:
Outstanding Debt $680,000
Less Fair Market Value $660,000
Equals to Cancellation of Debt Income $20,000
The gain or loss is calculated in the following manner:
Fair Market Value $660,000
Less Adjusted Tax Basis $400,000
Equals to Gain on Sale $260,000
Furthermore, the taxpayer elects not to reduce his or her tax attributes but to reduce the tax basis in the property by the amount of cancellation of debt income, $20,000. Therefore, the taxpayer’s adjusted tax basis is now $380,000 ($700,000 - $300,000 - $20,000). Thus, the taxpayer’s gain is now $280,000 ($660,000 – $380,000). Note if the election was not made and other tax attributes were reduced, the taxpayer’s capital gain would have been $260,000 as calculated above.
The Payment of the Liability Would Have Given Rise to a Deduction
There is no income from cancellation of a debt that was deductible to begin with.
Example: If a lender cancels home mortgage interest that could have been claimed as an itemized deduction on Schedule A of Form 1040 by the taxpayer, then there is no tax problem to contend with, since the mortgage interest was deductible to begin with, unless the taxpayer deducted the interest for some reason.
Debt Reduced After Purchase
There is no cancellation of debt income if an individual purchases property from the seller and the seller later reduces the loan amount. Instead, the purchaser's basis—the yardstick for measuring gain or loss when the property is sold—is reduced by the amount of the loan reduction. This exclusion applies to seller-financed properties. While banks were at one time foolish enough to lend in excess of 100% of the property value on an initial purchase, I find it hard to believe a non-bank seller would!
Example: Taxpayer purchases his or her residence for $400,000 and gets a loan for $430,000. Only makes monthly interest payments, no principal payments. Later, he or she does a loan modification and the lender agrees to reduce the principal balance to $390,000. The $40,000 ($430,000 - $390,000) reduction in the loan amount is cancellation of debt income to the taxpayer but it is not taxable. The taxpayer must reduce his or basis in the property by $40,000. Thus, the taxpayer’s new basis in the property would be $360,000 ($400,000 - $40,000).
Other Certain Student Loans, Disaster Victims, Gifts and General Welfare Payments
Student Loans – There is an exception for certain student loans. For example, doctors, nurses and teachers who agree to serve in rural or low-income areas in exchange for cancellation of their student loans will not have cancellation of debt income if they meet certain conditions. However, if the student just for the fun of it decides not to pay their student loan because they are going to file for bankruptcy and thinks the debt will be discharged, they are in for a surprise. Student loans are not discharged through bankruptcy unless the student can prove undue hardship.
Gifts - If the mortgage debt is cancelled by way of a gift, the cancellation would not result in the creation of taxable income. In order for the cancellation to qualify as gratuitous, the creditor must receive no consideration for it and there must be donative intent. The burden of showing donative intent is, of course, upon the debtor-taxpayer. But for there to be a gift cancellation of a debt, it is normally essential that the parties prove some personal relationship to each other besides debtor-creditor. While showing that the cancellation is a gift solves the debtor's income tax problem, the creditor must now try to avoid paying a gift tax.
Credit Card and Car Loan Debt - Noticeably absent from the specific exclusions to cancellation of debt income are two of the biggest consumer debt items: credit cards and car loans. Credit card debt or an unpaid debt on a car loan that is forgiven by the lender is cancellation of debt income and includable in gross income unless one of the exclusions stated above apply.
Form 1099-C - A taxpayer will receive a Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt, from a financial institution, credit union, or federal government agency that forgives a debt of $600 or more. The amount of the canceled debt is shown in box 2. Any forgiven interest included in the amount of canceled debt in box 2 will also be shown in box 3. As noted above, if the interest would otherwise be deductible, it does not have to be included in income. If you disagree with the amount shown on Form 1099-C, you should contact the lender in writing and ask for a corrected Form 1099-C (good luck with that!). Even if the lender refuses, you may still have recourse if you can document the correct amount of canceled debt. Do not take the lender’s figures as final. There are many ways to calculate the figures yourself accurately.
Form 982 – When you have cancellation of debt income, whether taxable or not, it must be reported on Form 982. Also, the reduction of your tax attributes are reported on this form as well. However, note that this form is not used to actually calculate your cancellation of debt income or the gain or loss. These two calculations are reported elsewhere on your returns and are beyond the scope of this article.
Finally, there are many different variables at play when real estate is foreclosed on, taken back through a deed-in-lieu of a foreclosure or sold through a short sale. However, with proper planning, you can perhaps avoid paying taxes on the cancellation of debt income, saving your valuable tax attributes and even reducing the gain on the transaction.
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