In 2013, Bertha (head of household with three dependents) had a $28,000 loss from the sale of a personal residence. She also purchased from an individual inventor for $17,000 (and resold in two months for $18,000) a patent on a rubber bonding process. The patent had not yet been reduced to practice. Bertha purchased the patent as an investment.
In addition, she had the following capital gains and losses from stock transactions:
Long-term capital loss........................................($ 6,000)
Long-term capital loss carryover from 2012...............(12,000)
Short-term capital gain..........................................21,000
Short-term capital loss........................................ (7,000)
What is Bertha's net capital gain or loss? Draft a letter to Bertha explaining the tax treatment f the sale of her personal residence. Assume that Bertha's income from other sources puts her in the 28% bracket. Bertha's address is 1120 West Street, Ashland, OR 97520.