Main home exclusion test
Does the main home exclusion stop the bright-line test taxing your sale? We count the days and check the land area the way IRD does, including construction periods and the limits.
Both tests pass: more than 50% of the land and more than 50% of the bright-line period. The exclusion applies in full.
| Rules that apply | 2-year test (sale agreement on or after 1 July 2024) |
| Main home rule | More than 50% of land and time, all or nothing (IR1229 pp15 to 23) |
| Days in the bright-line period | 591 |
| Days tested (construction ignored) | 591 |
| Days lived there as your main home | 382 |
| Time lived there as your main home | 64.6% · more than 50%, passes |
| Land used as your main home | 100% · more than 50%, passes |
| Used twice in the 2 years before | Do not apply |
| Regular pattern | Do not apply |
| Main home exclusion | Applies in full |
Your sale agreement is inside the bright-line period, which ends on 20 May 2025, so the main home test matters.
Days are counted including both the first and last day, as most IRD examples do. Intention to live there does not count, and a family member living there without you does not count (IR1229 p17).
Worked example shown. Change any figure to see your own result (needs JavaScript).
Questions people ask
What counts as my main home?
Where you live most of the time. You can only have one. With several homes, it is the one you have the greatest connection with (IR1229 p15).
Is there a partial main home exclusion?
Not under the current rules: if either test is 50% or less the exclusion does not apply at all. Apportionment only applies to property acquired on or after 27 March 2021 and sold before 1 July 2024 (IR1227).
Does building a house count against me?
No. The construction period, from design to completion (usually the code compliance certificate), is ignored when testing use (IR1229 p22).
Can I rent out a room?
Renting a room to a flatmate generally does not stop the exclusion (IR1229 p21).
More tools
Other questions about selling
Bright-line calculator
Tax on a sale under every bright-line period.
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Property, shares or crypto: a plain outcome with the IRD reference.
Open →End date finder
The first day a sale agreement is clear of the bright-line test.
Open →Election 2026
Current law and every party’s position, with Labour’s proposal on your sale.
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