Tag Archive for mortgage interest

Are There Advantages To Owning A Second Home?

Whatever the location, size, or value of a second home, certain tax advantages are built in. However, your opportunity to benefit from them depends on how you use the property.

Personal Use

Both property taxes and mortgage interest are as deductible for a second home as they are for your primary residence — and are subject to the same limitations. If you file a joint return, you cannot deduct interest on more than $1 million of acquisition debt ($500,000 for married persons filing separately) on one or two homes. Read More

Written by | Posted in Capital Gains • Deductibles • Deductions • Property Tax

New Tax Law Cracks Down On Home Mortgage Interest

For years, taxpayers have been able to deduct home mortgage interest on their primary and second homes as an itemized deduction, subject to certain limitations. The interest deduction was limited to the interest on up to $1 million of acquisition debt and $100,000 of equity debt.

Acquisition debt is debt incurred to purchase, construct or substantially improve a taxpayer’s principal or second home. So when you purchased your home, that original loan was acquisition debt, and if you later borrowed additional money that you used to add a room, pool, etc., that loan was also acquisition debt. However, if the total of all of your acquisition loans exceeded the $1 million limit, then the interest on the excess debt over $1 million was not deductible as acquisition debt interest.  Read More

Written by | Posted in Mortgages

CA Proposal To Convert Vacation Home Subsidy

Annette Nellen

AB 71 introduced in California for the 2016-2017 session, proposes to repeal the deduction for mortgage interest on a second home (usually a vacation home) and use the savings (and apparently other funds) for low-income housing.

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Written by | Posted in State Tax

Should You Itemize Your Deductions For Taxes?

Looking ahead to the filing season for this year’s tax returns, a frequent question is whether you should keep track of tax-deductible expenditures or simply settle for the standard deduction amount.

Whether you can itemize deductions on your tax return depends on how much you spent on certain expenses during the year. Money paid for medical care, mortgage interest, taxes, charitable contributions, casualty losses and miscellaneous deductions (usually job or investment related) can reduce your taxes. If the total amount spent on those categories is more than the standard deduction, you can usually benefit by itemizing.

The standard deduction amounts are based on your filing status, your age and whether or Read More

Written by | Posted in Tax Deductions