Its not clear what the current title is. If your mother gave you the house in May 2002 then your name alone should be on the deed (but read on). If that were the case then the tax basis you would have in the condo to compute gain or loss would be the $19,000 purchase price unless she had made improvements, etc. The fair value in May 2002 (not the other values listed) would be the value of the gift your mother made to you. This would have had to be reported by her on a Federal From 709 Gift Tax Return. If that occurred you would be getting a gift each time she paid tax for your condo.

If the deed in May 2002 reflected a gift to you with a retained life estate by your mother (see Glossary and other Q&As on this website with lots of detail on life estates). However, since your mother would, if this were the fact, have the retained right to live in the house for life, the entire value of the condominium would be included in her estate for estate tax purposes. Your tax basis for income tax purposes (to compute gain or loss if you later sell) would be the fair value of the condominum on her date of death (or possibly 6 months later if the alternate valuation date is used --- your estate planning can help you with that).

So its possible that the tax basis to you is not $19,000 or $300,000.

Finally, to minimize all taxes an overall plan should have been evaluated before your mother did whatever she did in May 2002. That plan may have included her selling the condo to you and renting it back (using her home sale exclusion to avoid any capital gains), perhaps giving the house to a qualified personal residence trust to reduce gift tax, leaving te house in her name with no change, giving the house to you subject to a life estate (which may be what happened, but the facts aren't clear), etc. There may be more options. To minimize all taxes also should not be te goal. Probate costs, caring for your mother and her condominium if you live at a distance, and other personal goals should also be addrssed. You only get the optimal planning result when you address all factors. You should start with a consultation with a real estate lawyer to see what tht title to the house really is and what that means. You may then consider meeting with an accountant and estate planner to address the income tax issues and estate planning options that remain.