Selling after 30 years: what long-time owners should know about taxes

Start with this: talk to a CPA

We are a home buying company, not CPAs or attorneys. This article explains the general rules so you know what to ask, but every situation is different. Your filing status, your records, whether you ever rented the home, and how the property is titled can all change the answer. Before you sign anything, sit down with a tax professional, and ask the Property Appraiser's office about your homestead.

That said, a lot of long-time owners worry more than they need to, and some worry less than they should. Knowing the basics helps.

The home sale exclusion

Under Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code, when you sell your main home you may be able to exclude a large part of your gain from federal income tax:

• Up to $250,000 of gain for a single filer.
• Up to $500,000 for most married couples filing jointly.

To qualify, you generally must have owned the home and lived in it as your main home for at least two of the five years before the sale. Long-time owners who still live in the house usually meet this easily. If you have already moved out, for example into assisted living or with family, the timing matters, and there are special rules for some situations, so ask your CPA.

A surviving spouse may, in some cases, still use the larger $500,000 exclusion if the home is sold within two years of the spouse's death and other conditions are met. That is a detail worth raising with a professional.

How gain is figured, and why old receipts matter

Your gain is not simply the sale price minus what you paid. In general terms:

1. Start with the sale price.
2. Subtract selling costs, such as certain closing costs and any commission.
3. Subtract your adjusted basis, which is what you originally paid plus certain purchase costs, plus the cost of capital improvements over the years.

Capital improvements are things that added value or extended the life of the home: a new roof, an addition, a new air conditioning system, replaced windows, a remodeled kitchen, a pool. Routine repairs and upkeep usually do not count.

After 30 or 40 years, those improvements can add up, and every dollar of documented improvement reduces your gain. If you have old receipts, contracts, permits, or even canceled checks, gather them. Your county's permit records may also show work done over the years. A CPA can tell you what qualifies.

If your gain is larger than the exclusion

In parts of Tampa Bay where land values have climbed a long way, some long-time owners do end up with a gain above $250,000 or $500,000. The part above the exclusion is generally taxed as a long-term capital gain at the federal level, at rates that depend on your overall income. Other federal rules can apply in some cases. This is exactly the kind of thing to model with your CPA before you sell, so there are no surprises in April.

The good news for Florida residents: Florida has no state personal income tax, so there is no separate state tax on the gain.

Save Our Homes and portability

If you have had a Florida homestead exemption for many years, your assessed value has likely been held down by the Save Our Homes cap. When you sell, that benefit does not stay with you automatically. But Florida's portability rule may let you transfer part of it to a new Florida homestead.

Based on Florida property appraiser guidance, the general rules are:

• You can transfer up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes benefit.
• You generally must establish the new homestead within three tax years of January 1 of the last year you had a homestead exemption on the old home.
• You apply for portability along with the new homestead exemption, usually by the March 1 filing deadline.
• If the new home is worth less, the benefit may transfer as a percentage rather than in full.

Portability can make downsizing within Florida much more affordable on the property tax side. Ask the Property Appraiser in the county where you are buying to confirm the details for your situation.

Getting ready to sell

A simple checklist before you sell, whoever you sell to:

• Find your original closing statement or deed to confirm your purchase price.
• Collect records of improvements over the years.
• Note when you moved out, if you already have.
• Ask your CPA to estimate your gain and any tax.
• If you plan to buy again in Florida, ask the Property Appraiser about portability.

Tampa Teardown is run by 131 Cash Home Buyers. We do not charge commissions and we pay normal closing costs, and the title company provides a settlement statement you can hand straight to your CPA. If you are still sorting out the move itself, see moving after decades in one home.

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General information, not legal, tax or zoning advice. Every lot is different; local rules decide what can be built. Updated November 2026.