Selling your home or a rental property? Here are important capital gains tax rules to keep in mind.You can use IRS Form 8949 to report details of your capital asset transactions. If profits on your home sale are likely to be high, keep track of your selling expenses so as to lower your capital gains tax obligation. Some or all of the capital gains on the sale of your house are probably subject to capital gains tax. You have to pay capital gains tax on real estate profits. Here are some ways to try to avoid capital gains taxes when selling a house. Most homes will be sold with a profit. This profit is referred to as a capital gain. The timer for when ownership starts is based on the date the sale is recorded to me with the county.