Ivy Tower (age 45), a history professor at Coastal State University, recently purchased a house near the beach. In the current year, she accepted an offer from a buyer who wants to make the house into a bed and breakfast. Ivy sold her personal residence for a $100,000 gain. She owned the house 11 months as of the date of sale. After the sale closed, she discovered that the $100,000 is taxable as a short-term taxable gain (i.e., ordinary income) because she had not lived there the 2 years required for exclusion of gain on the sale of a residence. She is upset that she will have to pay substantial tax on the sale. Her best friend’s husband is an M.D. who signed a letter that Ivy had to move due to the dampness and humidity at the beach. She is not a regular patient of the doctor and Ivy has no history of respiratory problems. Ivy claims she meets the medical extraordinary circumstances exception and therefore refuses to report the gain on her Form 1040.
