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Quick Read

• Selling a home for $890,000 leaves roughly $328,000 taxable after the $500,000 joint exclusion, adding $9,240 in Medicare surcharges two years later.

• Section 121’s $500,000 joint exclusion ceiling hasn’t risen with inflation since 1997, leaving longtime homeowners exposed to large taxable gains on ordinary homes.

• Rebuilding cost basis with documented improvements, deferring optional IRA withdrawals, and budgeting for the Medicare surcharge from proceeds reduces the sale’s financial impact.

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For more than 40 years, the house did exactly what its owners hoped it would do. A couple who paid $62,000 for their home in 1984 closes on the sale this year at $890,000. The IRS lets them exclude up to $500,000 of gain under Internal Revenue Code Section 121. Any taxable gain left after the exclusion, basis adjustments and selling expenses flows into adjusted gross income (AGI). That figure helps determine the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) Social Security uses to calculate Medicare’s income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA) two years later. The sale closes in 2026. The Medicare bill arrives in 2028.

Where the Section 121 Ceiling Bites

Section 121 generally excludes up to $250,000 of gain for a single homeowner and $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly. For the full joint exclusion, one spouse generally must satisfy the ownership test, both must have used the property as their principal residence for at least two of the previous five years, and neither can have used the exclusion on another sale during the prior two years.

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On this sale, the raw gain is $828,000. Subtract the joint exclusion and roughly $328,000 remains before documented improvements increase the basis and selling expenses reduce the amount realized. That remainder is taxable long-term capital gain reported on the return. The $250,000 and $500,000 limits were written into law in 1997 and were not indexed for inflation. A ceiling that once looked generous has spent nearly three decades standing still while longtime owners watched ordinary homes accumulate extraordinary gains.

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MapQuest announced last week it had soared to the top of Apple’s App Store navigation rankings following its decision to keep the former name of Lake America, Lake Ontario, on its maps.

Hundreds of thousands of people downloaded the app after it reaffirmed it would continue using the historical names for lakes and gulfs, driving usage to roughly 50 times its normal level, according to MapQuest.

The company said it was the No. 1 navigation app and the No. 8 free app overall in the U.S. Apple App Store as of 7 p.m. PDT on Aug. 30. It also climbed to No. 2 among all free apps in Canada.

“We took the same approach we did with the Gulf of Mexico: be part of the conversation, and give people an app that keeps the names they’re familiar with,” Doug Berger, general manager of MapQuest, said in a statement.

APPLE MAPS RENAMES LAKE ONTARIO ‘LAKE AMERICA’ FOR US USERS AFTER TRUMP ORDER

MapQuest announced last week it had soared to the top of Apple’s App Store navigation rankings after its decision to keep the name Lake Ontario on its maps. (Cole Burston / AFP via Getty Images)

“Hundreds of thousands of people signaled to us this weekend that we got it right, by downloading our app,” Berger added.

The surge came after President Donald Trump ordered the body of water be renamed “Lake America.”

While Google Maps and Apple Maps adopted the change for U.S. users, MapQuest said it would continue displaying Lake Ontario, mirroring its earlier decision not to replace “Gulf of Mexico” with “Gulf of America.”

The company also expanded a feature allowing users to rename Lake Ontario within the app themselves, building on a tool it first launched for the Gulf of Mexico in February 2025.

GOOGLE MAPS CHANGES LAKE ONTARIO TO ‘LAKE AMERICA’ FOR US USERS AFTER TRUMP ORDER: ‘IT’S OFFICIAL!’

The surge came after President Trump ordered Lake Ontario to be renamed “Lake America.” (Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

Eric Yaverbaum, CEO of public relations firm Ericho Communications, told FOX Business the company capitalized on a cultural moment closely tied to its business.

“What worked for them was they didn’t force this,” Yaverbaum said. “They’re an expert at one thing: maps. They get to weigh in on one thing: maps.”

Yaverbaum said the viral attention presents MapQuest with an opportunity to revive its brand and reconnect with consumers.

“You want to have a redo on your brand, you want to do a rebrand — boy, did they just open a big door,” he said.

GOOGLE MAPS UPDATE: GULF OF AMERICA, MOUNT MCKINLEY WILL BE IN AFTER TRUMP ORDERS NAME CHANGES

US President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Aug. 27, 2026. (Al Drago/The Washington Post/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

However, Yaverbaum cautioned that companies should be careful when wading into political issues.

“Generally speaking, I counsel my clients to stay out of politics. You’re going to lose half your audience. So if you’re going to play, play safely,” he said.

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Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 27 directing the Interior Department to officially rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” within the United States, amid ongoing trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa.

MapQuest could not immediately be reached by FOX Business for comment.