Estimate the tax on selling your home. Enter the sale and purchase details, how long you owned and lived in the home, and figures from last year's tax return. The calculator applies the home sale exclusion and shows the federal and California tax, the effect on your Medicare premiums, and your net cash from the sale.
Tax on the sale
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Gain excluded
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Taxable gain
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Net cash after tax
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Gain on the sale
How the gain is figured, following Publication 523 and Form 8949.
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Amount
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Home sale exclusion
Section 121 lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly, if you meet the ownership and use tests.
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Effect on your tax return
A 2026 projection with and without the sale. The taxable gain can also make more Social Security taxable, reduce the senior deduction, trigger the 3.8% investment income tax, and raise Medicare premiums.
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Without sale
With sale
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Net cash from the sale
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Good to know
Repairs and maintenance do not add to basis. Keep records of improvements; for long-held homes, county permits and old escrow statements help reconstruct them.
A loss on the sale of a personal residence is not deductible.
Report the sale on Form 8949 and Schedule D if any gain is taxable or you receive Form 1099-S.
California generally requires 3⅓% withholding on real estate sales; a principal residence that qualifies for the exclusion is exempt when you certify it on Form 593 through escrow.
Medicare premiums are based on income from two years earlier. A home sale is not a life-changing event for an IRMAA appeal (Form SSA-44).
Assumptions
Federal figures use the 2026 brackets, standard deduction, capital gain thresholds and SALT cap from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including the $6,000 senior deduction. Unrecaptured §1250 gain is taxed at up to 25%.
The reduced exclusion is prorated on the shorter of the ownership or use period over 24 months. Nonqualified use is prorated by years. Married filing jointly assumes the spouse who did not meet the use test receives no exclusion. Periods of nonqualified use after the home stopped being your residence are not counted, as the law provides.
Not modeled: AMT, credit phaseouts, installment sales, and §1031 exchanges.
California tax uses the 2025 FTB rate schedules as an estimate until 2026 figures are published. California taxes capital gains as ordinary income and follows the federal exclusion.
Medicare IRMAA uses 2026 thresholds and surcharges per person as a proxy for two years out.
Selling a home you've owned for years?
We'll confirm your basis, the exclusion, and the best way to report the sale. Call (415) 431-9660 or (844) 356-9700.
This calculator provides estimates for planning purposes only and is not tax advice. Results depend on the accuracy of the figures entered and on assumptions that may not fit your situation. Consult TaxPlus & Associates before selling.