what is form 6252 installment sale income 
form 6252 installment sale income is an internal revenue service irs form used to report income from the sale of real or personal property coming from an installment sale with the installment method an installment sale occurs when at least one payment from the disposition of property is received after the end of the tax year an installment sale in general does not include disposition of personal property from a person who regularly sells that same type of property like a real estate agent or broker or property that is sold to customers in the ordinary course of the taxpayer s occupation such as with farmland in some situations when there are gains on the dispositions of the property the installment method may be used proceeds from an installment sale can come in later tax years which are reported unless the taxpayer is not using the installment method who can file form 6252 installment sale income filers may need to use this form any time they realize a gain on property in the installment method taxpayers do not have to file form 6252 if the sale of the property does not result in a gain for them even if their payments are received in a subsequent tax year if this is the case a business should report the sale using form 4797 additionally form 6252 is not needed to report sales of stock or securities traded on an established securities market those sales should be treated as if they were received in the same year the sale was made taxpayers should not file form 6252 for sales that do not result in a gain even if a payment is received in the tax year 