05 Aug Can a veteran’s widow save on taxes when selling a rental home?

Q. Is the widow of a deceased veteran who was 100% disabled exempt from capital gains tax when a rental property is sold upon the veteran’s death?
— Widow

A. We’re sorry to hear about your loss.

There is, unfortunately, no way to avoid tax on the sale of a rental property, even if you are a disabled veteran or the spouse of a deceased disabled veteran.

This probably won’t apply to you, but there is an exclusion for active-duty military members who are away from their principal residence due to a permanent change of station, said Gail Rosen, a Martinsville-based certified public accountant.

“These military members may exclude their capital gains on the sale of their personal residence if they occupied the primary residence for two of the prior 15 years,” she said. “The general rule is that you may exclude up to $250,000 of the gain if you’re single, or $500,000 if you file jointly, if you owned and used the home as a principal residence for two of the last five years.“

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This story was originally published on Aug. 5, 2022.

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