Home Cost Basis and Improvements Record

Who this is for

What the home has cost you, from purchase to sale, in one record. Purchase costs, improvements and any credits or payouts are listed with their paperwork, and only the items you or your adviser count are added to the adjusted total, which is then set against the sale price less selling costs.

Homeowners who want the figures ready for when the house is sold, whether for a tax return, an adviser or simply to know what the home has really cost.

What this helps you track

• Purchase price and the purchase costs that count towards the total
• Every improvement and repair, kept apart, with its receipt
• Credits, grants or payouts that reduce the total
• A running total of improvements counted so far
• The adjusted total against the sale price less selling costs

How to use it

1. Write the address, the dates bought and sold and, when you sell, the sale price and selling costs at the top.
2. List the purchase price and each purchase cost, ticking Counts only for those you have been told are part of the figure.
3. Add every job on the house as it is paid for, marking it Improvement, Repair or Not sure; only Improvement rows are counted.
4. Record any credit, grant or insurance money you have been told reduces the figure, and tick Counts.
5. The counted columns, running total and summary are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, add the ticked and Improvement rows.
6. Keep receipts where the sheet says they are, and take the sheet to your adviser.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How do I know whether a job is an improvement or a repair?

That is decided by the tax rules where you live, not by this sheet. Record every job, mark it with your adviser's view or your best judgement, and use Not sure until you have asked; nothing marked Not sure is counted.

Which purchase costs count?

It depends on where you live and the rules that apply to you, so the sheet only adds the lines you tick. Record every cost anyway, so the figures are there if your adviser asks for them.

Is the last figure the tax I owe?

No. It is the net sale price less the adjusted total, worked out from your own entries. Whether any tax is due, and how much, depends on the rules where you live and any relief that applies. Ask a tax adviser.

How is this different from the landlord's capital works record?

That record is for a let property and its rental accounts. This one follows your own home from purchase to sale, with purchase costs, reductions and the sale figures on the same page.