Larry Gaines, a single taxpayer, age 42, sells his personal residence on November 12, 2019, for $151,200. He lived in the house for 7 years. The expenses of the sale are $9,072, and he has made capital improvements of $10,150. Larry’s cost basis in his residence is $86,750. On November 30, 2019, Larry purchases and occupies a new residence at a cost of $150,000. Calculate Larry’s realized gain, recognized gain, and the adjusted basis of his new residence.

The adjusted basis is the net cost of an asset after it has had depreciation deductions and/or capital expenditure increments. In other words, its actual worth at that particular point in time.

The amount realized is the fair market value and the sum of any money received at the sale of an asset.

1. A recognized gain or loss is the difference between the amount realized from the sale of the asset and the asset's adjusted basis on the time of its sale. A positive figure proves to be a gain and a negative figure proves to be a loss. In other words, when an asset is sold for a price higher than what it is actually worth at the time of sale, it is a recognized gain whilst if it is sold for a price lower than what its net cost is, it is a recognized loss.

In the current scenario:

The amount realized from the sale of the asset is $151,200.

Adjusted basis = Cost basis + capital improvements

Hence, $86,750 + $10,150 = $96900

Recognized gain/loss = $151,200 - $96900 = $54300

Due to the fact that it is a positive figure, i.e. amount realized at sale of asset is higher than the adjusted basis, it is a recognized gain.

2. A realized gain is the amount of actual money earned at sale. It does not simply look at the income from sale, but also takes into account any expenses that were present at the time of sale and deducts these.

In this case, there was an expense of the sale of $9072.

Hence, amount realized from sale of asset is $151200 - $9072 = $142128

Realized gain = $142128 - $96900 = $45228

3. Adjusted basis of new residence

The new residence has not had any capital increments. Hence, the adjusted basis is the same as the cost i.e. $150,000.