Homeownership - Blog Posts

davidtaran

8 years ago

Tax Benefits For Homeowners

Owning a home has its perks, but with those perks also come other costly responsibilities. But if you are dedicated to being a homeowner, there are some benefits you can enjoy as a result – and they come in the form of tax deductions.

Make sure that you are taking advantage of these 4 tax deductions for homeowners this year:

1. The Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction

No homeowner enjoys looking over their mortgage statement. It’s a reminder that most of your paycheck is tied up in paying your monthly mortgage bill. And to make things worse – as if that isn’t already bad enough – for the first couple of years, that money is only covering the interest of your mortgage. But there is some good news! If you are a single filer, you can deduct interest on up to $500,000 and if you are filing jointly, you can deduct interest on up to $1,000,000.

2. Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) Tax Deduction

There is a way to avoid paying private mortgage insurance (or PMI), but it requires that homeowners are able to make a 20% down payment when they first purchase a home. For people who can’t pay that initial fee up-front, there are some tax deductions that are available to undo a bit of that burden. As long as your household doesn’t go over a certain amount of annual income, you can deduct your premiums on your taxes.

3. Home Improvement Loan Interest Tax Deduction

If a home improvement project is on your to-do list, now might be the time to consider going through with it. If you borrow money with the intent of making improvements to your home, you are eligible to deduct the interest you are paying towards the loan. Note: these improvements can’t be counted as repairs to your home, though.

4. Home Office Tax Deduction

If you work from home, you are encouraged to claim a home office tax deduction. This will require a bit of number-crunching on your end because you will need to calculate how much you spend annually on electricity, water, internet bills, etc. Once you have that number, you deduct it from the amount of space your office takes up, which will give you the final deduction that you can claim on your taxes.

It’s important to do your research on the various tax deductions available to you! Many homeowners don’t spend adequate time investigating, which means that they are paying out more money to the IRS than they are required to. Keep as much of your money as you can by seeing if you are eligible for any of the above tax deductions.