Federal Tax Research 10th Edition by Roby Sawyers,William Raabe,Gerald Whittenburg,Steven Gill

Exercise 5

Barry's wife, Terra, died in an accident, leaving him with four young children to raise on his own. Shortly after Terra's funeral, Barry and the children move from the house that Barry and Terra owned for eight years, mainly because they neede a change. Barry buys a new house with the help of Lisa, a realtor. Lisa and Barry start dating and, within one year, Barry and Lisa are married. Lisa has four children of her own. Given that neither Lisa's nor Barry's home is large enough for the combined family of eight children, Lisa and Barry both sell their homes and buy a new six-bedroom house. Lisa owned her home for six years, but Barry has owned his most recent house for only one year. All of the houses show realized gains on the sales. How are these sales of personal residences treated for tax purposes