The IRS places a one-home-sale-every-two-years exclusion limit on taxpayers wishing to claim the home sale gain exclusion. 

The exclusion doesn’t apply to any sale if, during the two-year period ending on the date of the sale, there was any other sale by the taxpayer to which the exclusion applied. The exclusion is allowed each time a taxpayer meets the eligibility requirements, but generally no more frequently than once every two years.

Marital Issue: One Spouse Violates the One-Sale-Every-Two-Years Rule - If a single taxpayer who is eligible for an exclusion marries someone who has used the exclusion within the two years before the marriage, the newly-married taxpayer is allowed a maximum exclusion of $250,000. Once both spouses satisfy the eligibility rules and two years have passed since the last exclusion was allowed to either of them, the taxpayers may exclude $500,000 of gain on their joint return.

Marital Issue: Both Spouses Qualify with Separate Residences - This rule limiting the exclusion doesn’t prevent a husband and wife filing jointly from each excluding up to $250,000 of gain on the sale or exchange of each spouse’s principal residence provided that each spouse would be permitted to exclude up to $250,000 of gain if they filed separate returns.