I believe that tax withholding from proceeds (it's 3 1/3%) is simply a prepayment (credit on your return for ultimate taxes due) but is not required when the property sold is the seller's principal residence. Sounds like that amount will be excessive and would lead to a tax return refund.

I believe the questions in Part III of the form should get you the result you want, an exemption from withholding.

I recommend you speak to your realtor and get your own tax advice, lars. I can't give anonymous advice with no facts in front of me. I can point you in the right direction, but you need to sort this out.

Form 593 relates only to California tax, not federal.

Good luck.

I recommend calling your tax advisor and letting them know about the sale of your home (including the details). Ask about the tax implications.

Your tax advisor will be able to help you with this tax form, and with any payments that you might need to make related to your federal taxes too.

Our realtor does not know that much about the 593 form, and she wanted us to talk to the escrow agent, and then he told us (originally) to talk to a certified tax accountant.

At this point, there seems to be a consensus that the form is just for deductions, and the escrow agent finally told us not to make a big deal out of it. Therefore, we will try to fill it out the best we can, and if we feel overwhelmed, we will try to talk to an accountant, but I think that can wait until we do our income taxes.

I think we will end up having to pay some capital gains tax on the federal level, but it will not be huge.

The advantage of talking to an accountant now is that you can get a good idea of the amoiunt that you will owe from this, and make any required estimated payments. By making the estimated payments now, you could reduce or eliminate penalties and interest for failing to make proper estimated payments. It might turn out that you don't need to make any estimated payments. But it would be wise to find that out now rather than next April.

Kevin and I own the property jointly, and both our names are on the deed. Therefore both of us have had to sign all of the documents.

Originally, the escrow company provided us with one 593 document with its name in the appropriate places and the full price in part VI, line 13, and I told them that we needed two documents, each with half of the sale price.

Lines 14 through 26 will be somewhat difficult for us to compute, and this is where I thought we might need help from an accountant. However, it seems to me that we should be able to figure it out.

We are definitely going to need an accountant when we do our taxes in 2025, but I was not sure whether it would be necessary before then. However, I do agree that I should contact the accountant tomorrow or this weekend.

I am not a tax expert, and don't pretend to be one.

Good thing, because there’s at least one problem with your post. Gifts over $17K are not taxable, they are reportable to be counted towards a lifetime cap currently set at close to $14MM, after which the donor has to pay gift taxes. I doubt many of us will ever have to worry about this, under current law.

Signed,

Another Layman Who No One Should Trust

And Lars, do not go to the corner franchise tax offices like Block or Liberty,

Food, the lifetime exclusion amount was enacted with a sunset provision. In the coming year or two, it will reduce to half, back in the $7 mil and below range.

Names shown on a title registration are not controlling for tax purposes. Unfiled fractional interests by contract are not uncommon and overrule title filed ownership.

Proper filing of returns and tax payments are not controlled by third party reporting. Taxpayers are obligated by law to file correctly.

There are no transfer (gift) tax issues here.

The California withholding tax was enacted after I retired in my mid-50s. Anyway, I did no individual tax work. What I did do is work most people would be unfamiliar with, no need to describe it. It was corporate tax related and didn't involve tax returns directly.

I did say under cutrent law. and my understanding is that if/when its lowered, anti-clawback provisions would exempt the estate from the difference between the exclusion amounts at date of gift and date of death. But all this is above my pay grade which caps at about 50¢.

When searching for an experienced accountant I always look to see who has extended hours first. Best of luck.

The notary that we saw today explained the mystery of CA form 593 to us, which is very simple.

In Part III, if we check line 1, which says that the property is our primary residence (which it was), then we can skip part VI because no withholding is required, and we can go to the perjury statement, sign that and be done!

I don't know why our RE agent could not have told us that, and I have to admit that I should have read the instructions at the end of Part III more carefully.

Therefore, we will not need an accountant until next year when we do our taxes.

We still have to scan all three pages of form 593 and email that to escrow. Now I just have to find one of my scanners in the boxes I have in my bedroom.

Simple outcome. Glad for you.

"I did say under cutrent law. and my understanding is that if/when its lowered..."

There's no if. Under current law, it cuts in half in a year or two.

”if/when” is inclusive of ”when”. Since I have neither knowledge nor crystal ball to say whether or not it or will be extended at some point in the future, I allowed for the possibility with ”if.” If you have some knowledge that guarantees that it will not happen, feel free to share but it does not make my statement incorrect. It also will have nothing to do with, nor will it invalidate my statement that gifts over $17K (or whatever it actually is right now) will not be taxable for the vast majority of us.

If/when is also inclusive of "if", which does not apply as explained before.

Sunsetting provisions have been typically used by politicians in tax law when a law change is good politics at the time of enactment but bad tax policy. Pass it and also repeal it effective a few years later, done at the same time.

This measure if extended in today's world is a "tax cut for the rich" and a budget cost. Hard to do, unlikely to pass unless the party that passed it originally has both houses of Congress.

Unrelated: Seeing food's estimate of the value of his advice caused me to examine my keyboard. Is it a sign of the times? I have a key for $, but none for 'cents'.

Lars, I hope you're so close to closure and you feel so much better about where you are.

pedentry comes to mind for some of the other stuff here. ( go FOAS!)

You may not have a professional occupation where with certain things, approximations or speculations are not a substitute for knowledge. Such is the case as regards what rules and provisions are enacted into law. The application of the law can vary with circumstances but what's written is what's written. It's apparently a subject you're unfamiliar with.

£ € ¥ ₽. Cool, never knew that. Thanks.

New world opens. Hold E to get ones with accent marks. é

i-devices, number zero provides a degree symbol. Some letter keys provide accent marks for other languages.

¢¢¢¢¢¢¢ on a Mac is Option 4. I didn't know that. I am happy to know this now.

¡ ™ £ ¢ ∞ § ¶ • ª º Those are numbers 1 through 0 while holding down the Option key.

Off topic but still nice to know.

I use Alt + 155 for ¢, which is easier than 0162, and I've been doing this for decades. Here is a very simple ASCII chart, which is what I use the most often, especially for umlauts.

I emailed our California 593 forms to the escrow office this morning, and I believe that is the last thing that we need to do in order to get paid.

I have to call the gas company today to turn off the gas, and Kevin has to call LADWP to turn off water and power, which will take 48 hours to go into effect, and the new owner can turn everything on, which he wants to do by July 3.

There's no if. Under current law, it cuts in half in a year or two.

Happy Independence Day, Elmer. Not only was there an “if” all along, today it became “when.”

Imagine that, such a storied careerr, only to be shown wrong by someone who you feel oh so superior to.

Yes, when I was reading about the BBB and the impact on inheritance tax, I did remember how oddly you dug your heels in, insisting it woud be sunset and not extended.

No, I didn’t PREDICT anything. Never claimed to. I simply ALLOWED for a possibility. And obviously I was right.

Your reaction though, ”wow” is all I can say. What a fragile ego for such s big man. I’m actually feeling sad for you.

You really are bored. You're trying too hard, it doesn't work. Bye.