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1 Square Inch of Land for Sale at $1,500 NEWS | OPINIONS | SPORTS | ARTS & LIVING | Discussions | Photos & Video | City Guide | CLASSIFIEDS | JOBS | CARS | REAL ESTATE 1 Square Inch of Land for Sale at $1,500 By The Associated Press The Associated Press Saturday, November 12, 2005; 10:21 PM SPENCER, Ind. -- A tiny parcel of land in southwest Indiana is some of the priciest real estate in the world. Owen County officials are trying to sell a 1-square-inch plot of land for $1,500. At that rate, an acre of land would cost nearly $7 billion. No buyers ponied up for the postage-stamp-sized plot during a tax sale. "It's too small to plant a flower on," said Peter Dorsey, with the county's mapping department. The parcel was originally part of a 1.12-acre tract under a separate deed, said auditor Angie Lawson. Officials think the tiny piece of land west of Bloomington was deeded to someone in the 1960s, when people had to own property to use a nearby lake. First National Bank foreclosed on the property owner's mortgage, which covered the entire 1.12-acre tract, and the land was up for bid at the tax sale. There is a minimum bid of $1,500 for tax sale parcels. County attorney Richard Lorenz said he wants to find a way for the county to get rid of the land and the responsibility of selling it, perhaps by giving it away. "Maybe we could donate that 1-inch plot to Owen County Preservations as the smallest land donation in history," Lorenz said. © 2005 The Associated Press

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CNN/Money: Real Estate Web CNN/Money Home News Markets Technology Commentary Personal Finance Autos Real Estate Real Estate MONEY GALLERY Living la bonne vie Buying a home in the French countryside is a dream worth exploring. See 7 homes on the market now. ( more ) Video California housing market UCLA group predicts that real estate will slow, but state won't succumb to recession. CNN's Andy Serwer reports. ( more ) How to buy and build on rural land Dreaming of the perfect country getaway? Here's how to be sure you don't get taken. ( more ) Most overvalued housing markets Latest analysis of 299 markets: See how your hometown ranks. ( more ) When booms go bust... Home prices can and do go down. Here's what declines have looked like in the past. ( more ) Forecast: 100 markets Help with the loan hunt Most profitable renovations Some home improvements can recoup a lot, even all, of their costs. ( more ) MORTGAGE UPDATE 30-year mortgage: lowest in 2 months Dec 29: 11:14a Rates edge lower in the latest week but remain up considerably from a year earlier. ( more ) RATE SEARCH No points only 15 Year Fixed conforming - $165,000 15 Year Fixed jumbo - $385,000 30 Year Fixed conforming - $165,000 30 Year Fixed jumbo - $385,000 1 Year ARM conforming - $165,000 1 Year ARM jumbo - $385,000 3/1 Year ARM conforming - $165,000 3/1 Year ARM jumbo - $385,000 5/1 Year ARM conforming - $165,000 5/1 Year ARM jumbo - $385,000 7/1 Year ARM conforming - $165,000 7/1 Year ARM jumbo - $385,000 Select State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington DC West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming ESSENTIALS Money 101: Buying a home Top things to know The hunt Are you ready? Closing the deal Lining up cash For sellers only Picking a team Glossary MORE ESSENTIALS: Choosing the best mortgage Take a bite out of closing costs How to make your home sellable MONEY LIST Latest home prices: 147 markets tracked Third quarter numbers are in for nearly 147 markets. How does your home town stack up? ( more ) Market Growth 1. Phoenix, AZ 55.2% 2. Orlando, FL 44.8% 3. Fort Myers, FL 42.5% 4. Tuscon, AZ 34.7% 5. Daytona, FL 33.8% MORE LISTS: Million-dollar markets Most expensive markets CALCULATORS Renovation Wizard Compare cost of living How much house can you afford? Money Magazine -- Try an issue of MONEY FREE! Subscribe and SAVE! REAL ESTATE ARCHIVE Dec 29: 10:46a Home sales fall, inventories jump Dec 28: 7:22a Mortgage applications at 3-1/2 year low Dec 27: 2:04p 1 BR @ Plaza, no park view: $2M Dec 19: 11:59a Is it time to cash out? Dec 22: 12:37p Fastest-growing states Dec 19: 9:22a Neighbors behaving badly Dec 23: 11:58a New home sales tumble 11 percent Dec 21: 6:29a The boom that won't die Dec 20: 2:39p Feds fret over innovative mortgages Dec 14: 3:50p Least affordable rental markets Dec 19: 3:49p Protect your home in 2006 Dec 12: 2:47p Take this home market...and love it Dec 13: 11:15a Double jeopardy for landlords Dec 8: 2:01p There go 800,000 jobs out the door Dec 7: 1:13p Real estate investors bailing out? Dec 9: 3:02p Overvalued housing markets decline Dec 8: 4:37p 'Take this house and shove it' Dec 1: 4:02p Help with the loan hunt Dec 1: 12:34p Home prices rise but pace slows More »» CNN Money contact us | subscribe to Money magazine advertising -- | site map | glossary | RSS | press room OTHER NEWS: CNN | SI | Fortune | Business 2.0 | Time © 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms under which this service is provided to you. privacy policy Reprints of site stories are available.

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Frequently Asked Questions - 10. Capital Gains, Losses/Sale of Home Home | Contact IRS | About IRS | Site Map | Español | Help Advanced Search Search Tips IRS Resources Compliance & Enforcement Contact My Local Office e-file Forms and Publications Frequently Asked Questions News Taxpayer Advocacy Where To File 10.1 Capital Gains, Losses/Sale of Home: Property (Basis, Sale of Home, etc.) What is the basis of property received as a gift? To figure the basis of property you get as a gift, you must know its adjusted basis to the donor just before it was given to you. You also must know its fair market value (FMV) at the time it was given to you. If the FMV of the property at the time of the gift is less than the donor's adjusted basis, your basis depends on whether you have a gain or loss when you dispose of the property. Your basis for figuring gain is the same as the donor's adjusted basis, plus or minus any required adjustments to basis while you held the property. Your basis for figuring a loss is the FMV of the property when you received the gift, plus or minus any required adjustments to basis while you held the property. See Adjusted Basis in Publication 551 , Basis of Assets . If you use the donor's adjusted basis for figuring a gain and get a loss, and then use the FMV for figuring a loss and get a gain, you have neither a gain or loss on the sale or disposition of the property. If the FMV is equal to or greater than the donor's adjusted basis, your basis is the donor's adjusted basis at the time you received the gift. Increase your basis by all or part of any gift tax paid, depending on the date of the gift. Also, for figuring gain or loss, you must increase or decrease your basis by any required adjustments to basis while you held the property. See Adjusted Basis in Publication 551, Basis of Assets. If you received a gift before 1977, increase your basis in the gift (the donor's adjusted basis) by any gift tax paid on it. However, do not increase your basis above the FMV of the gift at the time it was given to you. If you received a gift after 1976, increase your basis by the part of the gift tax paid on it that is due to the net increase in value of the gift. Figure the increase to basis by multiplying the gift tax paid by the following fraction. The numerator of the fraction is the net increase in value of the gift and the denominator is the amount of the gift. The net increase in value of the gift is the FMV of the gift less the donor's adjusted basis. The amount of the gift is its value for gift tax purposes, after reduction by any annual exclusion and any marital or charitable deduction that applies to the gift. For more information on the gift tax, please see Publication 950 , Introduction to Estate and Gift Taxes . For additional information on this subject see Gifts . References: Publication 551 , Basis of Assets Publication 950 , Introduction to Estate and Taxes I have investment property. Can you explain the term basis of assets? Basis is your investment in property for tax purposes. Before you can figure any gain or loss on a sale, exchange, or other disposition of property, or figure allowable depreciation, you must determine the adjusted basis. Adjusted basis is the result of increasing or decreasing your original basis according to certain events. Your original basis is usually your cost to acquire the asset. Increases to basis include but are not limited to: . Improvements having a useful life of more than a year . Assessments for local improvements . Sales tax . The cost of extending utilities lines to the property . Legal fees such as the cost of defending or perfecting title . Zoning costs Decreases to basis include but are not limited to: . Depreciation . Nontaxable corporate distributions . Casualty and theft losses . Easements . Rebates from the manufacturer or seller Additional information on basis can be found in Publication 551 , Basis of Assets, or Tax Topic 703 , Basis of Assets . References: Publication 551 , Basis of Assets Tax Topic 703 , Basis of Assets I sold my principal residence this year. What form do I need to file? If you meet the ownership and use tests, you will generally only need to report the sale of your home if your gain exceeds a certain dollar prescribed by law. To determine the amount of gain that can be excluded from income refer to Publication 523 Selling Your Home You may be entitled to exclude gain from income if during the 5-year period ending on the date of the sale, you must have: Owned the home for at least 2 years (the ownership test), and Lived in the home as your main home for at least 2 years (the use test). If you owned and lived in the property as your main home for less than 2 years, you may still be able to claim an exclusion in some cases. If you are required or choose to report a gain, it is reported on Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF) , Capital Gains and Losses . If you were on qualified extended duty in the U.S. Armed Services or the Foreign Service you may suspend the five-year test period for up to 10 years. You are on qualified extended duty when the extended duty lasts for more than 90 days or for an indefinite period AND: At a duty station that is at least 50 miles from the residence sold, or When residing under orders in government housing. This change applies to home sales after May 6, 1997. You may use this provision for only one property at a time and one sale every two years. For additional information on selling your home, refer to Publication 523 , Selling Your Home . References: Publication 523 , Selling Your Home Tax Topic 701 , Sale of your Home - after May 6, 1997 Tax Topic 703 , Basis of Assets If I sell my home and use the money I receive to pay off the mortgage, do I have to pay taxes on that money? It is not the money you receive for the sale of your home, but the amount of gain on the sale over your cost, or basis, that determines whether you will have to include any proceeds as taxable income on your return. You may be able to exclude any gain from income up to a maximum dollar limit. If you can exclude all of the gain, you do not need to report the sale on your tax return. To determine the maximum dollar limit you can exclude or for additional information on selling your home, refer to Publication 523 , Selling Your Home . References: Publication 523 , Selling Your Home Tax Topic 701 , Sale of your Home - after May 6, 1997 Tax Topic 703 , Basis of Assets If I take the exclusion of capital gain tax on the sale of my old home this year, can I also take the exclusion again if I sell my new home in the future? With the exception of the 2-year waiting period, there is no limit on the number of times you can exclude the gain on the sale of your principle residence so long as you meet the ownership and use tests. References: Publication 523 , Selling Your Home Tax Topic 701 , Sale of Your Home - after May 6, 1997 Tax Topic 703 , Basis of Assets I lived in a home as my principal residence for the first 2 of the last 5 years. For the last 3 years, the home was a rental property before selling it. Can I still avoid the capital gains tax and, if so, how should I deal with the depreciation I took while it was rented out? If, during the 5-year period ending on the date of sale, you owned the home for at least 2 years and lived in it as your main home for at least 2 years, you can exclude up to the maximum dollar limit. However, you cannot exclude the portion of the gain equal to depreciation allowed or allowable for periods after May 6, 1997. This gain is reported on Form 4797. If you can show by adequate records or other evidence that the depreciation allowed was less than the amount allowable, the amount you cannot exclude is the amount allowed. Refer to Publication 523 , Selling Your Home and Form 4797 (PDF), Sale of Business Property for specifics on calculating and reporting the amount of gain. References: Publication 523 , Selling Your Home Publication 527 , Residential Rental Property Publication 587 , Business Use of Your Home Form 4797 (PDF), Sale of Business Property How do you report the sale of a second residence? Your second home is considered a capital asset. Use Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF) to report sales, exchanges, and other dispositions of capital assets. References: Publication 544 , Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets Tax Topic 703 , Basis of Assets Tax Topic 409 , Capital Gains and Losses 10.2 Capital Gains, Losses/Sale of Home: Stocks (Options, Splits, Traders) How do I figure the cost basis of stock that has split, giving me more of the same stock, so I can figure my capital gain (or loss) on the sale of the stock? When the old stock and the new stock are identical the basis of the old shares must be allocated to the old and new shares. Thus, you generally divide the adjusted basis of the old stock by the number of shares of old and new stock. The result is your new basis per share of stock. If the old shares were purchased in separate lots for differing amounts of money, the adjusted basis of the old stock must be allocated between the old and new stock on a lot by lot basis. References: Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses Tax Topic 409 , Capital Gains and Losses How do I figure the cost basis when the stocks I'm selling were purchased at various times and at different prices? If you can identify which shares of stock you sold, your basis is what you paid for the shares sold (plus sales commissions). If you sell a block of the same kind of stock, you can report all the shares sold at the same time as one sale, writing VARIOUS in the "date acquired" column of Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF). However, what you enter into the "cost or other basis" column is the total of all the acquisition costs of the shares sold. If you cannot adequately identify the shares you sold and you bought the shares at various times for different prices, the basis of the stock sold is the basis of the shares you acquired first (first-in first-out). Except for certain mutual fund shares, you cannot use the average price per share to figure gain or loss on the sale of stock. For more information, refer to Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses . References: Publication 525 , Taxable and Nontaxable Income Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses Tax Topic 409 , Capital Gains and Losses Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF) How do we show on our tax form where dividends are reinvested? Some corporations allow investors to choose to use their dividends to buy more shares of stock in the corporation instead of receiving the dividends in cash. If you are a member of this type of plan, you must report the fair market value on the dividend payment date of the dividends that are reinvested as income on your tax return. You do not actually show that the dividends were reinvested on your return. Keep good records of the dollar amount of the reinvested dividends, the number of additional shares purchased, and the purchase dates. You will need this information when you sell the shares. Report the dividends that were reinvested with your other dividends, if any, on Form 1040 (PDF) or Form 1040A (PDF). If your total income from ordinary dividends exceeds a dollar amount set by law, you also must file either Form 1040, Schedule B (PDF) or Form 1040A, Schedule 1 (PDF). For more information on this and other types of dividend reinvestment plans, refer to Ordinary Dividends in Chapter 1 of Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses . References: Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses Form 1040, Schedule B (PDF) Tax Topic 404 , Dividends How do I compute the basis for stock I sold, when I received the stock over several years through a dividend reinvestment plan? The basis of the stock you sold is the cost of the shares plus any adjustments, such as sales commissions. If you have not kept detailed records of your dividend reinvestments, you may be able to reconstruct those records with the help of public records from sources such as the media, your broker, or the company that issued the dividends. If you cannot specifically identify which shares were sold, you must use the first-in first-out rule. This means that you deem that you sold the oldest shares first, then the next oldest, then the next-to-the-next oldest, until you have accounted for the number of shares in the sale. In order to establish the basis of these shares, you need to have kept adequate documentation of all your purchases, including those that were through the dividend reinvestment plan. You may not use an average cost basis. Only mutual fund shares may have an average cost basis. Refer to Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses, and Publication 551 , Basis of Assets . References: Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses Publication 551 , Basis of Assets Tax Topic 404 , Dividends How do I report participation in a qualified employee stock purchase plan on my tax return? If you participated in a qualified employee stock purchase plan, you do not include any amount in your gross income as a result of the grant or exercise of your option to purchase stock. When you sell the stock that you purchased by exercising the option, you may have to report compensation and capital gain or capital loss. For additional information on tax treatment and holding period requirements, refer to Publication 525 , Taxable and Nontaxable Income . References: Publication 525 , Taxable and Nontaxable Income I purchased stock from my employer under a qualified employee stock purchase plan. Now I have received a Form 1099-B from selling it. How do I report this? If the special holding period requirements are met, generally treat gain or loss from the sale of the stock as capital gain or loss. However, you may have compensation income if: The option price of the stock was below the stock's fair market value at the time the option was granted, or You did not meet the holding period requirement. The holding period requirements is that you must hold the stock for more than 2 years from the time the option is granted to you and for more than 1 year from when the stock was transferred to you. If you do not meet these holding period requirements, there is a disqualifying disposition of the stock. The compensation income that you should report in the year of the disqualifying disposition is the excess of the fair market value of the stock on the date the stock was transferred to you less the amount paid for the shares. If the holding period requirements are met, but the option price is below the fair market value of the stock at the time the option was granted, you report the discount as compensation income (wages) when you sell the stock. Generally, this compensation income is the lesser of the excess of the fair market value of the stock on the date of the disposition less the exercise price OR the excess of the fair market value of the stock at the time the option was granted less the exercise price. If the holding period requirement are met and your gain is more than the amount you report as compensation income, the remainder is a capital gain reported on Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF). If you sell the stock for less than the amount you paid for it, your loss is a capital loss, and you do not have ordinary income. For more information, refer to Publication 525 , Taxable and Nontaxable Income , and Publication 551 , Basis of Assets. References: Publication 525 , Taxable and Nontaxable Income Publication 551 , Basis of Assets Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF), Capital Gains and Losses Should I advise the IRS why amounts reported on Form 1099-B do not agree with my Schedule D for proceeds from short sales of stock not closed by the end of year? If you are able to defer the reporting of gain or loss until the year the short sale closes, there are certain notations you can make on your Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF) that will allow you to reconcile your Forms 1099-B to your Schedule D and still not recognize the gain or loss from the short sale. You will also need to attach a statement explaining the details of your short sale and that it has not closed as of the end of the year. Include your name as it appears on the return and your social security number. For more on these rules and exceptions that may apply, refer to Chapter 4 of Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses . References: Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses Tax Topic 409 , Capital gains and losses Do I need to pay taxes on that portion of stock I gained as a result of a split? No, you generally do not need to pay tax on the additional shares of stock you received due to the stock split. You will need to adjust your per share cost of the stock. Your overall cost basis has not changed, but your per share cost has changed. You will have to pay taxes if you have gain when you sell the stock. Gain is the amount of the proceeds from the sale, minus sales commissions, that exceeds the adjusted basis of the stock sold. References: Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses Tax Topic 409 , Capital gains and losses 10.3 Capital Gains, Losses/Sale of Home: Mutual Funds (Costs, Distributions, etc.) I have both purchased and sold shares in a money-market mutual fund. The fund is managed so the share price is constant. All gain is reported as dividends. Do I have to report the sale of these shares? Yes, you report the sale of your shares on Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF), Capital Gains and Losses . Generally, whenever you sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of a capital asset, you report it on Schedule D. If the share price were constant, you would have neither a gain nor a loss when you sell shares because you are selling the shares for the same price you purchased them. If you actually owned shares that were later sold, the fund or the broker should have issued a Form 1099-B There is no requirement with that form that there be gain or loss on the sale, only a sale or exchange of an investment asset and sales proceeds. References: Publication 564 , Mutual Fund Distributions How do return of principal payments affect my cost basis when I sell mutual funds? A return of principal (or return of capital) reduces your basis in your mutual fund shares. Unlike a dividend or a capital gain distribution, a return of capital is a return of part of your investment (cost). However, basis cannot be reduced below zero. Once your basis reaches zero, any return of principal is capital gain and must be reported on Form 1040 Schedule D (PDF), Capital Gains and Losses . References: Publication 564 , Mutual Fund Distributions How do I calculate the average basis for the sale of mutual fund shares? In order to figure your gain or loss using an average basis, you must have acquired the shares at various times and prices and have left them on deposit in a managed account. There are two average basis methods: Single-category method, and Double-category method. Single-category method. First, add up the cost of all the shares you own in the mutual fund. Divide that result by the total number of shares you own. This gives you your average per share. Multiply that number by the number of shares sold. Double-category method. First, divide your shares into two categories, long-term and short-term. Then use the steps above to get an average basis for each category. The average basis for that category is then the basis of each share in the sale from that category. Once you elect to use an average basis method, you must continue to use it for all accounts in the same fund. You must clearly identify on your tax return the average basis method that you have elected to use. You do this identification by including "AVGB" in column (a) of Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF) . Refer to Publication 564 , Mutual Fund Distributions, Sales, Exchanges and Redemptions . References: Publication 564 , Mutual Fund Distributions Form 1040, Schedule D Instructions If I used an average basis method for shares of one mutual fund I sold, do I have to use it for all mutual funds I sell? No, you may use a different method, as long as you have not used an average basis method for that fund previously. Once you have elected to use an average basis method to compute the gain or loss on shares in a mutual fund, you must use that same method for the sale of shares from any account in that same fund. References: Publication 564 , Mutual Fund Distributions How do I calculate the average cost method of a mutual fund if the fund price splits? If your mutual fund splits, or adjusts its price, it is treated like a stock split. Your total basis doesn't change after the split, but since you now own more shares without paying any more money, your per-share basis will decrease. To calculate your per-share basis, divide the total cost that you have invested in the fund (minus any shares previously sold) by the current number of shares that you hold. References: Publication 564 , Mutual Fund Distributions I received a 1099-DIV showing a capital gain. Why do I have to report capital gains from my mutual funds if I never sold any shares? A mutual fund is a regulated investment company that pools funds of investors allowing them to take advantage of a diversity of investments and professional asset management. You own shares in the fund, but the fund owns assets such as shares of stock, corporate bonds, government obligations, etc. One of the ways the fund makes money for its investors is to sell these assets at a gain. If the asset was held by the mutual fund for more than one year, the nature of the income is capital gain, which gets passed on to you. These are called capital gain distributions, which are distinguished on Form 1099-DIV (PDF) , from income that is from other profits, called ordinary dividends. Capital gains distribution are taxed as long term capital gains regardless of how long you have owned the shares in the mutual fund. If your capital gains distribution is automatically reinvested, the reinvested amount is the basis of the additional shares purchased. References: Publication 564 , Mutual Fund Distributions 10.4 Capital Gains, Losses/Sale of Home: Losses (Homes, Stocks, Other Property) Is the loss on the sale of your home deductible? The loss on the sale of a personal residence is a nondeductible personal loss. References: Publication 523 , Selling Your Home Tax Topic 409 , Capital gains and losses I own stock which became worthless last year. Can I take a bad debt deduction on my tax return? If you own securities and they become totally worthless, you can take a deduction for a loss, but not for a bad debt. The worthless securities are treated as though they were capital assets sold on the last day of the tax year if they were capital assets in your hands. Report worthless securities on Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF), in Part 1 or 2 depending on whether you held the stock short term and write "Worthless." In the applicable column of Schedule D. For additional information, refer to Chapter 4 of Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses (Including Capital Gains and Losses). For more information on bad debts, refer to Tax Topic 453 , Bad Debt Deduction . References: Publication 550 , Investment Income and Expenses (Including Capital Gains and Losses) Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF), Capital Gains and Losses Tax Topic 453 , Bad Debt Deduction More Frequently Asked Tax Questions Accessibility | FirstGov.gov | Freedom of Information Act | Important Links | IRS Privacy Policy | U.S. Treasury