Recent changes to real estate tax laws may affect the decisions of California's homebuyers and sellers. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has imposed a five-year ownership requirement to qualify for the $250,000 (or $500,000 for married couples) exclusion from capital gains taxes for properties acquired through a 1031 exchange. In a separate move, California's Franchise Tax Board has eased its real estate withholding requirements by no longer requiring one as long as the seller last used the property being sold as his or her principal residence.
C.A.R.'s Legal Department has recently updated the legal memoranda titled "Capital Gains on Real Estate Sales," and "California Withholding on the Sales of Real Property." In addition, C.A.R will be releasing an updated version of the standard form "Seller's Affidavit of Non-foreign Status and/or California Withholding Exemption."
Posted by gandlwoods at January 26, 2005 08:46 AM