|
Mortgage Interest
Deductions
Deduction
for Points, Origination Fees, Mortgage
Interest
Ordering
TurboTax Online Software
You can
deduct the interest on your home loan
and the real estate taxes you pay on
your residence.
Mortgage interest is deductible up to $1
million as a married couple, $500,000 if Married Filing
Separately as long as you use the money
to buy, build or improve on your home,
and the loan is secured by your home.
The interest you pay on loans
secured by your home and used for a
purpose other than to buy, build or
improve your home is deductible for
loans up to $100,000, ($50,000 each if you're
Married Filing Separately). The limit
may be reduced depending on the market
value of the home at the time you take
out the loan.
Points or origination fees paid when you
purchase your home generally are
completely deductible in the year you
pay them.
Alternatively, you may choose to
amortize the points over the term of
your mortgage. This choice is usually
made only when your itemized deductions
are less than the standard deduction for
the year you bought the home.
Buying a Home -- What’s Deductible?
A homeowner can deduct points used to
obtain a mortgage when buying a home,
mortgage interest paid during the year,
and property taxes.
What are Points?
Mortgages have costs and one of those
costs is the "loan origination fee." The
loan origination fee is usually a
percentage of the loan amount, generally
expressed as "points." One "point" on a
$150,000 loan would be $1500. One and a
half points on the same loan amount
would be $2250.
On VA and FHA loans, points are often
broken down into two categories: loan
origination fee, and discount points.
Both are deductible. The loan
origination fee must be expressed as
points in order for it to be tax
deductible.
Your lender cannot inflate the points to
include other items you would normally
be charged. When buying a home, there
are normally other charges such as
appraisal fee, title insurance fee,
property taxes, settlement fees, and so
on.
If the seller pays the buyer’s points,
the Internal Revenue Service allows the
buyer to deduct this as an expense on
their federal tax returns. However, the
seller cannot deduct them, too.
Points paid
to refinance a loan must be deducted
over the term of the loan.
If you deduct
points over the term of the loan and
sell the home or refinance it again
before the loan expires, you can deduct
in the year of the sale or refinancing
any points that you didn't previously
deduct.
also see:
Personal Residence Capital Gain
Exclusion
Other Deductible Closing Costs
With two exceptions, other closing costs
are not deductible. Those exceptions are
pre-paid interest and pro-rated property
taxes.
TaxReturnRefunds.com US tax help, AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, H, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, New NH, New NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
All Rights Reserved
|