Understanding
federal home loan bank of ny
Understanding Tax Deductions for Second Mortgage and Home Equity Loan Interest
Let us take a minute and understand tax deductions for second mortgage and home equity loan interest. Among the most attractive features of second mortgages is the federal tax-deductibility feature of their interest payments, which reduces the effective cost of the loans to borrowers. However, before signing those loan papers, it's important to understand just what you can and cannot deduct off your taxes.
To qualify for mortgage interest tax deductions, your mortgage must be secured by your first or second home. Loans secured by subsequent homes (e.g., third or fourth homes) do not qualify. A home, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), must be a house, condominium, cooperative, mobile home, boat, recreational vehicle or similar property that has sleeping, cooking and toilet facilities.
IRS Publication 936 states that all of your mortgages must fit into one or more of the following three categories at all times during the year.
1. Mortgages taken out on or before October 13, 1987 (grandfathered debt).
2. Mortgages taken out after October 13, 1987, to buy, build, or improve your home (home acquisition debt), but only if throughout the current tax year these mortgages plus any grandfathered debt totaled $1 million or less ($500,000 or less if married filing separately).
3. Mortgages taken out after October 13, 1987, other than to buy, build, or improve your home (home equity debt), but only if throughout the current tax year these mortgages totaled $100,000 or less ($50,000 or less if married filing separately) and totaled no more than the fair market value of your home reduced by (1) and (2).
Types of Mortgage Debts
A grandfathered debt is fully deductible with no limits.
A home acquisition debt, also known as acquisition indebtedness, is money you borrow to buy, build or substantially improve your qualified residence (an IRS term for your first or second home). A home equity debt, also known as equity indebtedness, is money you borrow against the equity in your qualified residence or money you cash out on a mortgage refinance for any reason other than home improvement. To deduct the mortgage interest, you will need to file a Form 1040 (the long form with itemized deductions, not 1040 EZ). Your lender will send you a Form 1098 listing the mortgage interest you paid during the tax year. Check with a licensed tax professional for other conditions and limits that may apply.
Maria Ny is an acclaimed free-lance writer who has published many mortgage related articles. Get more info at BD Nationwide Mortgage for Second Mortgage & Home Equity Loans. For more 2nd mortgage advice & home equity refinancing tips, visit Fixed Home Equity Loans and Second Mortgage Refinance Loans.
More Useful Resource and Updates on federal home loan bank of ny
- Expert: Don Taylor, Ph.D., CFA, CFP (Bankrate.com)
Dear Dr. Don, I have a $170,000 home equity line of credit with Bank of America that is currently completely drawn. I have $100,000 in my bank account and would like to pay down my HELOC with these funds.
- Opening the tap on home equity (Austin American-Statesman)
Borrow before credit line is frozen, some suggest. Many homeowners who have taken out home equity lines of credit have learned in recent months that these loans are not as useful as they initially seemed.
- Banks Adjusting Home Equity Loans (FOX 31 Denver)
During this financial crisis, have you checked your home equity line of credit? How about your business line? You might be shocked to learn that banks are now taking back money they've already loaned...in some cases, without warning. FOX 31's Heidi Hemmat reports.
- Ford asks Congress for $9B line of credit (Las Vegas Sun)
Tue, Dec 2, 2008 (10:33 a.m.) Ford Motor Co. is asking Congress for a $9 billion "stand-by line of credit" to stabilize its business, but says it doesn't expect to tap it.
- How the credit crunch will affect you (Reading Eagle)
Can you still count on the credit you thought you had? It's a fair question in this economy, even for people who pride themselves on never missing a payment.
- Park City Group Secures Bank Line of Credit to Complete Acquisition of Prescient Applied Intelligence (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
PARK CITY, Utah----Park City Group, Inc. , a developer of patented retail supply chain solutions and services, today announced that it has secured a $3.0 million line of credit facility with US Bank as part of the previously announced acquisition of Prescient Applied Intelligence .
- Home equity lines targeted by identity thieves (ABC 15 Phoenix)
Home equity lines of credit are increasingly becoming targets of identity thieves, according to the FBI's annual mortgage fraud report. "Stolen customer identification is being used to compromise home equity line of credit (HELOC) accounts," the FBI reports.
|