Who is ultimately correct about capital gains tax on sale of land?

The IRS has the ultimate authority on capital gains tax for property sales, not realtors. Realtors may have general knowledge but they're not tax specialists. For selling land, here's what matters: how long your mother owned it (sounds like 15 years, so "long-term"), her tax basis (purchase price plus improvements), and her current tax bracket. Since she's owned it more than a year, she'll qualify for long-term capital gains rates (0%, 15%, or 20% depending on income). I strongly recommend consulting a CPA or tax professional before the sale. They can help identify possible exclusions or strategies to minimize the tax impact. They might also help document improvements made to the property that could increase the basis and reduce the taxable gain.

I went through something similar with my dad's property last year. After getting conflicting advice from everyone, I tried this service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that analyzed our specific situation. It saved us literally thousands because it found deductions related to improvements made over the years that we didn't know we could claim. What I liked was that it provided clear documentation showing exactly how the capital gains should be calculated based on IRS regulations - which was super helpful when we got different numbers from the realtor and our regular tax guy. They basically just asked for the purchase documents, improvement records, and selling info, then did all the calculations with proper citations to tax code.

I was initially skeptical about online services for something as important as capital gains tax on property, but after my brother's recommendation, I tried taxr.ai for my land sale last month. I'm actually impressed with how thorough they were. They found documentation requirements I would have completely missed for proving improvements to the property over the years. They explained exactly how to calculate the adjusted basis, which ended up being about $36,000 higher than what my realtor had estimated. When I filed my quarterly estimated tax payment, I felt confident I was paying the correct amount instead of overestimating "just to be safe" like I was planning to do. What surprised me most was how they caught a partial exclusion I qualified for based on the timing of the sale. Definitely saved me a headache and some money.

If you're getting different answers about capital gains tax, that's actually pretty normal. I tried calling the IRS directly to get clarity when selling my rental property and spent HOURS trying to get through to someone. Finally found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of the usual 2+ hour wait. The IRS agent confirmed exactly how the capital gains should be calculated and what documentation I needed. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they hold your place in line so you don't have to stay on hold forever. Getting direct confirmation from the IRS gave me peace of mind that I was calculating everything correctly, especially since the stakes were pretty high with a six-figure gain on my property.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr being a scam. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS about a property sale issue for weeks. I was connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes yesterday after previously spending over 3 hours on hold before giving up. The agent confirmed exactly how to handle the capital gains reporting for my situation and cleared up confusion about how improvements affect the cost basis. For anyone dealing with capital gains questions on property - getting direct answers from the IRS gave me much more confidence than what my realtor was telling me. Different situation than OP's mom, but in my case, I learned I could include several expenses in my basis calculation that I wouldn't have otherwise.

The one thing nobody's mentioned yet is that you should gather ALL documentation about improvements made to the property over the years. Every upgrade, renovation, or major repair can potentially increase the cost basis and reduce the taxable gain. Your mom should look for receipts, contracts, bank statements, credit card statements, etc. that show money spent improving the property. Things like utility upgrades, fencing, grading, any structures built, surveys, legal fees related to the property, etc. all potentially count toward increasing the basis. The difference between the selling price and the adjusted basis (purchase price plus improvements minus depreciation taken) is what determines the capital gain. Documentation is key!

Does anyone know if there's a difference in capital gains tax rates for vacant land versus a house on land? My parents are in a similar situation but they're selling just undeveloped acreage.