Gaining capital
By Katy Stech (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Monday, December 31, 2007

A freshly passed federal law could help local homeowners who are in a real estate bind after losing a loved one.

The rule, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, gives widowed homeowners two years to sell their primary residence while still getting capital gains tax benefits as though they were married.

In the past, recently widowed homeowners had only until the end of the year to sell their property while still qualifying for the $500,000 capital gains tax exemption they would have received as a married person. After that time elapsed, the homeowner was classified as single again.

That rule drew criticism because it rushed some recently widowed homeowners into making tough real estate decisions.

Single homeowners can avoid paying capital gains tax on up to $250,000 of the profit.
Local Congressmen Henry Brown and James Clyburn voted in favor of the rule.

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Tags: capital gains, myrtle beach real estate, sc real estate, taxes

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