I'm in the process of selling my house and land which currently is in three different tax bills. I went through a divorce last year and one of my questions can I use the appraisal price that was used for me to own the house and land? Two pieces were combined as it was questionable if the sewer was on a different piece than the house and has approximately six acres. The third piece is 31 acres of land that was used to make hay or the horses grazed on it. All three pieces are connected. I would like to sell the house with ten acres and the 27 acres by itself. The house is being listed at $174,900 and the land at $2,500/acre. Any ideas if I will have to pay capital gains tax? How much? Any suggestions? Thanks!

Based on my experience of 7 sales, I do believe that Capital Gains have nothing to do with appraisals.

Unless I am misunderstanding something about your situation, to figure your capital gain, from your sale price, you deduct:
Closing costs,
Original purchase price, and
Any capital improvements.

The end number is your capital gain (unless you are using it to buy another home).

The price I paid to retain the house in the divorce is the price of the appraisal so I just want to make sure that is the price I would use? The other question I have is taking the three separate parcels of land and selling in as two, can I avoid paying any Capital Gains tax. All the three pieces are connected and have been used and if I interpret the Publication 523 correctly on page 3 under Main home under vacant land I should be OK.

I understand the question now more fully and, frankly, just do not know.

Because there are two tricky issues that may affect your Capital Gain, I would definitely consult a local Accountant.

I'm sorry I couldn't help :o