Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: Publication 544 is the IRS guide to the tax rules that apply when you sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of property, and the web edition is for 2025 returns. It covers figuring gain or loss, nontaxable exchanges, ordinary versus capital treatment, and reporting. It sends installment sales to Publication 537 and the sale of a main home to Publication 523.
Quick reference
| Item | As the IRS publication states it |
|---|---|
| Identify like-kind replacement property within (Deferred Exchange) | 45 days |
| Receive replacement property by the earlier of this day or the return due date (Receipt requirement) | 180th day |
| Holding period for long term treatment (Table 4-1) | more than 1 year |
| Capital losses allowed against ordinary income, beyond capital gains (Schedule D and Form 8949) | $3,000 |
| Qualified small business stock, basic exclusion of gain (Gains on Sales of Qualified Small Business Stock) | 50% |
| Time held in a qualified exchange accommodation arrangement, no longer than (Like-Kind Exchanges Using QEAAs) | 180 days |
What the publication covers
The introduction says “This publication explains the tax rules that apply when you dispose of property, including when you dispose of only a portion of certain property.” The IRS page cover line reads “For use in preparing 2025 Returns”.
The listed topics include “How to figure a gain or loss on the sale, exchange, and other disposition of property.” and “Whether your gain or loss is ordinary or capital.”
It also lists what it leaves to other publications, including “Sale of your main home. See Pub. 523, Selling Your Home.” and “Installment sales. See Pub. 537, Installment Sales.”
Parts of the publication in plain words
- Gain or loss: sales and exchanges, bargain sales, property used partly for business or rental, property changed to business or rental use, partial dispositions of MACRS property, and condemnations.
- Nontaxable exchanges: like-kind exchanges, deferred exchanges and safe harbors, qualified exchange accommodation arrangements, exchanges between related persons, and other exchanges such as partnership interests, property exchanged for stock and transfers to a spouse.
- Qualified small business stock gains, DC Zone assets, and the special rules for Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs).
- Ordinary or capital gain or loss: sale of a business, intangible property, timber, precious metals, stamps and coins, and digital assets.
- Business property: section 1231 gains and losses, and depreciation recapture under section 1245 and section 1250 property.
- Reporting gains and losses: information returns, Schedule D and Form 8949, short and long term, capital losses, capital gains tax rates, and Form 4797.
Tables and forms inside it
- Table 1-1, How To Figure Whether You Have a Gain or Loss
- Table 1-3, Worksheet for Condemnations
- Table 4-1, Do I Have a Short-Term or Long-Term Gain or Loss?
- Table 4-2, Holding Period for Different Types of Acquisitions
On this site, see Form 8949, Schedule D, Form 4797 and Form 8824.
The figures that matter
On the holding period, the publication says “If you hold a capital asset longer than 1 year, the gain or loss from its disposition is generally long term.”
On capital losses, it says “Capital losses are allowed in full against capital gains plus up to $3,000 of ordinary income.”
For a deferred like-kind exchange, the identification rule reads “You must identify the property to be received within 45 days after the date you transfer the property given up in the exchange.”
The receipt rule begins “The property must be received by the earlier of the following dates.” The first date listed is “The 180th day after the date on which you transfer the property given up in the exchange.”
For a qualified exchange accommodation arrangement, the source says “The combined time period the relinquished property and replacement property are held in the QEAA cannot be longer than 180 days.”
On qualified small business stock, the publication says “You may be able to exclude from your gross income 50% of your gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock you held more than 5 years.”
Where it points elsewhere
The publication lists a transaction type it does not cover: “Most transactions involving stocks, bonds, options, forward and futures contracts, and similar investments. See chapter 4 of Pub. 550, Investment Income and Expenses.” For a related exchange rule on this site, see Form 8949 code R, rollover of gain.
Where this comes from
The IRS page About Publication 544 opens with “Publication 544 explains the tax rules that apply when you dispose of property.” It links the PDF and eBook editions and the earlier revisions of the publication.
This page describes the web edition of Publication 544 (2025), Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets, as served on irs.gov on October 21, 2026. The IRS can revise a publication after we read it, and the IRS page controls. General information, not tax or legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Looking here for the sale of a main home. The publication lists “Sale of your main home. See Pub. 523, Selling Your Home.” among the transactions it does not cover.
- Looking here for installment sale rules. The publication points to “Installment sales. See Pub. 537, Installment Sales.”
- Counting the day of purchase in the holding period. The publication says “To figure if you held property longer than 1 year, start counting on the day following the day you acquired the property.”
- Treating any property swap as a like-kind exchange. The publication says “if you exchange real property you hold for use in a trade or business or hold for investment solely for other like-kind real property held for use in a trade or business or investment, you do not recognize the gain or loss from the exchange.”
Related: IRS publications by number, Form 8949, Schedule D (Form 1040), Form 4797, Form 8824, Depreciation recapture taxed in year one, Capital gains tax calculator, and Form 8997.
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Answer againSources
- IRS, Publication 544 (2025), Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/publications/p544
- IRS, About Publication 544, Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets (irs.gov): https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-544
Read from the IRS pages linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax or legal advice. The IRS publication and the instructions for your own form control, and your own facts decide the outcome.