The $250,000 home-sale exclusion is a major tax break. To qualify for the exclusion, you must have owned and lived in your home for two of the past five years. You can fail this two-of-five-year test and qualify for part of the $250,000 exclusion under the “unforeseen circumstances” rule.

You have a sale “by reason of unforeseen circumstances” if the primary reason for the sale is the occurrence of an event that you could not reasonably have anticipated before purchasing ... Log in to view full article.