What is a short sale? When the sale price of the home is less than the loan amount and the lender accepts a lower payoff.
On a short sale the amount waived is considered income by the IRS and subject to taxes. For example, if your loan amount is $300,000 and you complete a short sale for $200,000, the amount waived is $100,000. The IRS considers this as income and the borrower will be taxed at his income level. The lender will mail a 1099 and this must be reported to the IRS. This also applies to properties that are foreclosed upon.
The good news is that many homeowners will be excluded from owing the tax. The Mortgage Debt Relief Act, passed in December 2007 applies to debt forgiven through 2012. It states that the debt can be excluded if the following applies:
- The home must be primary residence (defined as the borrower has occupied the home at least 2 out of the last 5 years)
- The loan amount must be less than $2,000,000 per couple ($1,000,000 for individual)
- The amount waived must be less than $500,000 per couple ($250,000 for individual)
- The debt must have been acquired to purchase the home or substantially improve the home
What if you don’t fall in the above categories, such as an investment property? There some other options that may qualify the borrower to be exempt. One option is to file insolvent. Insolvency applies when the net worth is a negative (your debts exceed your net assets). For example, if you owe $300,000 on the home, but it is only worth $200,000 and you don’t have an additional $100,000 in assets, your net worth is a negative for the year. Another option may be to file bankruptcy. If you file bankruptcy, it is likely you will be able to file Insolvency. If you are considering a short sale or letting a home foreclose, I highly recommend you talk to an account about all of the consequences. I am also including links to relative articles on the IRS website.
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=179414,00.html
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4681.pdf
http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=179073,00.html
For other consequences of short sales, please see my blog on deficiency judgments and credit consequences. These are two other separate issues related to short sales and foreclosures.
Please contact TEAM CARVER for all of your real estate needs. We are Certified Short Sale Professionals. We look forward to working with you!
TEAM CARVER; www.TeamCarver.com; sold@TeamCarver.com ; (702) 436-3615
