What qualifies as living in primary residence for 2 out of 5 years capital gains rule?

So the IRS's 2-out-of-5 years rule for primary residence is actually pretty forgiving! Temporary absences still count as time living in your home, even if you're physically elsewhere. This includes vacations, business travel, healthcare stays, and yes - RV travel during the pandemic or missionary work. The key is that these were temporary absences and you didn't establish a different primary residence during those periods. Since you mentioned you never owned another house, maintained your mailing address, kept your driver's license registered there, and continued paying property taxes, you're likely in good shape. These are exactly the kinds of factors the IRS considers when determining your primary residence. The IRS doesn't have a specific time limit for what constitutes a "temporary" absence, but they look at the circumstances and your intent to return. Documentation of your intent to return to your home (which you seem to have) is important.

Hey there! I went through something similar last year with temporary absences from my home. I was stressing about proving my residence status until someone recommended I try taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) - it really helped clarify my situation. You upload your documents and it analyzes whether you qualify for the primary residence exclusion based on your specific circumstances. For me, it confirmed that my 14 months working abroad still counted as living in my primary residence since I had no other permanent home. It was a huge relief having that confirmation before filing!

Just wanted to update on my situation - I used taxr.ai after seeing it recommended here and it was incredibly helpful! As a service member, I was worried about my 14-month deployment affecting my primary residence status. The tool confirmed that military service is specifically protected under tax law regarding the primary residence exclusion. It even provided the exact IRS references I needed to confidently claim the capital gains exclusion. Saved me thousands in potential taxes and gave me peace of mind before listing my house.

If you're worried about proving your primary residence status to the IRS, you might want to consider getting official clarification directly from them. I was in a similar situation (traveling nurse with multiple temporary assignments) and was nervous about claiming the capital gains exclusion. After trying for weeks to reach someone at the IRS with no luck, I used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and got connected to an actual IRS agent in under 15 minutes. They have a quick demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that my situation qualified since I maintained my home as my permanent residence despite being physically absent for work. Getting that verbal confirmation from an actual IRS employee gave me so much more confidence than just reading interpretations online.

Well I need to eat my words and apologize. After my skeptical comment I was desperate enough to try Claimyr since I've been trying to get clarification on my rental property converted to primary residence situation. It actually worked exactly as described! After two months of failed attempts, I was connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes. The agent confirmed that my situation (similar to the original poster's) qualifies for the exemption since temporary absences don't break the residence requirement as long as you don't establish another primary home. Honestly shocked this service exists and actually delivers.

One thing nobody's mentioned that's important - if you rented out your house during the time you were traveling in the RV or doing missionary work, that could complicate things. The IRS may consider that period as non-qualifying use, which could reduce your capital gains exclusion proportionally. Did you rent it out at all during those absences?

Has anyone actually been audited on the 2 out of 5 years rule? I'm curious what documentation the IRS actually asks for if they question your primary residence claim?

Based on what you've described, you should be fine with the 2-out-of-5 years rule! The IRS recognizes that people have legitimate reasons for temporary absences from their primary residence. The fact that you maintained your driver's license, mailing address, and continued paying property taxes at this address strongly supports your case that this remained your primary residence throughout those periods. Your RV travel and missionary work sound like classic examples of temporary absences that don't disqualify you from the capital gains exclusion. The key factors working in your favor are: (1) you never owned another property during these absences, (2) you maintained your legal ties to the home, and (3) you had clear intent to return (which you did). I'd recommend keeping good documentation of these periods - any records showing the temporary nature of your RV trip and missionary work, plus all the evidence you mentioned about maintaining this as your legal address. The IRS looks at the totality of circumstances, and yours seem to clearly indicate this home remained your primary residence even during your physical absences.