How is mortgage interest deducted from taxes

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If you meet all of these tests, you can choose to either fully deduct the points in the year paid, or deduct them over the life of the loan. You can also fully deduct in the year paid points paid on a loan to substantially improve your main home if tests 1 through 6 are met. Second home. You can't fully deduct in the year paid points you pay on loans secured by your second home. You can deduct these points only over the life of the loan. Generally, points you pay to refinance a mortgage aren't deductible in full in the year you pay them.

This is true even if the new mortgage is secured by your main home. However, if you use part of the refinanced mortgage proceeds to substantially improve your main home and you meet the first six tests listed under Deduction Allowed in Year Paid , earlier, you can fully deduct the part of the points related to the improvement in the year you paid them with your own funds.

You can deduct the rest of the points over the life of the loan. In , Bill Fields got a mortgage to buy a home. The mortgage is secured by his home. Bill paid the points out of his private funds, rather than out of the proceeds of the new loan. The payment of points is an established practice in the area, and the points charged aren't more than the amount generally charged there.

Bill's first payment on the new loan was due July 1. He made six payments on the loan in and is a cash basis taxpayer. Bill used the funds from the new mortgage to repay his existing mortgage. Although the new mortgage loan was for Bill's continued ownership of his main home, it wasn't for the purchase or substantial improvement of that home.

He can't deduct all of the points in If you don't qualify to either deduct the points in the year paid or deduct them ratably over the life of the loan, or if you choose not to use either of these methods, the points reduce the issue price of the loan. This reduction results in original issue discount, which is discussed in chapter 4 of Pub. Amounts charged by the lender for specific services connected to the loan aren't interest.

Examples of these charges are:. The term "points" includes loan placement fees that the seller pays to the lender to arrange financing for the buyer. The seller can't deduct these fees as interest. But they are a selling expense that reduces the amount realized by the seller. See Pub. The buyer reduces the basis of the home by the amount of the seller-paid points and treats the points as if he or she had paid them. If all the tests under Deduction Allowed in Year Paid , earlier, are met, the buyer can deduct the points in the year paid.

If any of those tests aren't met, the buyer deducts the points over the life of the loan. If you need information about the basis of your home, see Pub. If you meet all the tests in Deduction Allowed in Year Paid , earlier, except that the funds you provided were less than the points charged to you test 6 , you can deduct the points in the year paid, up to the amount of funds you provided.

In addition, you can deduct any points paid by the seller. If you meet all the tests in Deduction Allowed in Year Paid , earlier, except that the points paid were more than generally paid in your area test 3 , you deduct in the year paid only the points that are generally charged. You must spread any additional points over the life of the mortgage. If you spread your deduction for points over the life of the mortgage, you can deduct any remaining balance in the year the mortgage ends.

However, if you refinance the mortgage with the same lender, you can't deduct any remaining balance of spread points. Instead, deduct the remaining balance over the term of the new loan. A mortgage may end early due to a prepayment, refinancing, foreclosure, or similar event. Dan prepaid his mortgage in full in You can't fully deduct points paid on a mortgage that exceeds the limits discussed in Part II.

See the Table 1 Instructions , later, for line The mortgage interest statement you receive should show not only the total interest paid during the year, but also your mortgage insurance premiums and deductible points paid during the year. See Form , Mortgage Interest Statement , later.

You can treat amounts you paid during for qualified mortgage insurance as home mortgage interest. The insurance must be in connection with home acquisition debt, and the insurance contract must have been issued after Qualified mortgage insurance is mortgage insurance provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Housing Administration, or the Rural Housing Service, and private mortgage insurance as defined in section 2 of the Homeowners Protection Act of , as in effect on December 20, Mortgage insurance provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs is commonly known as a funding fee.

If provided by the Rural Housing Service, it is commonly known as a guarantee fee. The funding fee and guarantee fee can either be included in the amount of the loan or paid in full at the time of closing. These fees can be deducted fully in if the mortgage insurance contract was issued in Contact the mortgage insurance issuer to determine the deductible amount if it is not reported in box 5 of Form Generally, if you paid premiums for qualified mortgage insurance that are properly allocable to periods after the close of the tax year, such premiums are treated as paid in the period to which they are allocated.

You must allocate the premiums over the shorter of the stated term of the mortgage or 84 months, beginning with the month the insurance was obtained. No deduction is allowed for the unamortized balance if the mortgage is satisfied before its term. This paragraph does not apply to qualified mortgage insurance provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Rural Housing Service. Ryan purchased a home in May of and financed the home with a year mortgage. In this example, the mortgage insurance premiums are allocated over 84 months, which is shorter than the life of the mortgage of 15 years months.

You will receive the statement if you pay interest to a person including a financial institution or cooperative housing corporation in the course of that person's trade or business. A governmental unit is a person for purposes of furnishing the statement. The statement for each year should be sent to you by January 31 of the following year. A copy of this form will also be sent to the IRS. The statement will show the total interest you paid during the year, any mortgage insurance premiums you paid, and if you purchased a principal residence during the year, it will also show the points paid during the year, including seller-paid points, that are deductible as interest to the extent you do not exceed the home acquisition debt limit.

However, the statement shouldn't show any interest that was paid for you by a government agency. As a general rule, Form will include only points that you can fully deduct in the year paid.

However, it may report points that you can't deduct, particularly if you are filing married filing separately or have mortgages for multiple properties. You must take care to deduct only those points legally allowable. Additionally, certain points not included on Form may also be deductible, either in the year paid or over the life of the loan. See the earlier discussion of Points to determine whether you can deduct points not shown on Form If you prepaid interest in that accrued in full by January 15, , this prepaid interest may be included in box 1 of Form However, you can't deduct the prepaid amount for January in See Prepaid interest , earlier.

You will have to figure the interest that accrued for and subtract it from the amount in box 1. You will include the interest for January with other interest you pay for If you received a refund of mortgage interest you overpaid in an earlier year, you will generally receive a Form showing the refund in box 4. See Refunds of interest , earlier. The amount of mortgage insurance premiums you paid during should be shown in box 5 of Form See Mortgage Insurance Premiums , earlier.

Generally, you can deduct the home mortgage interest and points reported to you on Form on Schedule A Form , line 8a.

However, any interest showing in box 1 of Form from a home equity loan, or a line of credit or credit card loan secured by the property is not deductible if the proceeds were not used to buy, build, or substantially improve a qualified home. If you paid more deductible interest to the financial institution than the amount shown on Form , show the portion of the deductible interest that was omitted from Form on line 8b. Attach a statement to your paper return explaining the difference and print "See attached" next to line 8b.

Deduct home mortgage interest that wasn't reported to you on Form on Schedule A Form , line 8b. If you paid home mortgage interest to the person from whom you bought your home, show that person's name, address, and taxpayer identification number TIN on the dotted lines next to line 8b.

The seller must give you this number and you must give the seller your TIN. The TIN can be either a social security number, an individual taxpayer identification number issued by the IRS , or an employer identification number. If you and at least one other person other than your spouse if you file a joint return were liable for and paid interest on a mortgage that was for your home, and the other person received a Form showing the interest that was paid during the year, attach a statement to your paper return explaining this.

Show how much of the interest each of you paid, and give the name and address of the person who received the form. Deduct your share of the interest on Schedule A Form , line 8b, and print "See attached" next to the line. Also, deduct your share of any qualified mortgage insurance premiums on Schedule A Form , line 8d. Similarly, if you're the payer of record on a mortgage on which there are other borrowers entitled to a deduction for the interest shown on the Form you received, deduct only your share of the interest on Schedule A Form , line 8a.

Let each of the other borrowers know what his or her share is. If your home mortgage interest deduction is limited under the rules explained in Part II , but all or part of the mortgage proceeds were used for business, investment, or other deductible activities, see Table 2 near the end of this publication.

It shows where to deduct the part of your excess interest that is for those activities. The Table 1 Instructions for line 16 in Part II explain how to divide the excess interest among the activities for which the mortgage proceeds were used.

A qualified home includes stock in a cooperative housing corporation owned by a tenant-stockholder. This applies only if the tenant-stockholder is entitled to live in the house or apartment because of owning stock in the cooperative. Has no stockholders other than those that own the stock who can live in a house, apartment, or house trailer owned or leased by the corporation. Has no stockholders who can receive any distribution out of capital other than on a liquidation of the corporation.

For this purpose, gross income is all income received during the entire year, including amounts received before the corporation changed to cooperative ownership. In some cases, you can't use your cooperative housing stock to secure a debt because of either:.

Restrictions in the cooperative agreement other than restrictions in which the main purpose is to permit the tenant- stockholder to treat unsecured debt as secured debt.

Generally, if you're a tenant-stockholder, you can deduct payments you make for your share of the interest paid or incurred by the cooperative. The interest must be on a debt to buy, build, change, improve, or maintain the cooperative's housing, or on a debt to buy the land.

Figure your share of this interest by multiplying the total by the following fraction. If you own a cooperative apartment, you must reduce your home mortgage interest deduction by your share of any cash portion of a patronage dividend that the cooperative receives. The patronage dividend is a partial refund to the cooperative housing corporation of mortgage interest if paid in a prior year. If you receive a Form from the cooperative housing corporation, the form should show only the amount you can deduct.

To figure how the limits discussed in Part II apply to you, treat your share of the cooperative's debt as debt incurred by you. The cooperative should determine your share of its grandfathered debt, and its home acquisition debt. Your share of each of these types of debt is equal to the average balance of each debt multiplied by the fraction just given.

After your share of the average balance of each type of debt is determined, you include it with the average balance of that type of debt secured by your stock. The cooperative should give you a Form showing your share of the interest. Use the rules in this publication to determine your deductible mortgage interest. This part of the publication discusses the limits on deductible home mortgage interest. These limits apply to your home mortgage interest expense if you have a home mortgage that doesn't fit into any of the three categories listed at the beginning of Part I under Fully deductible interest , earlier.

Your home mortgage interest deduction is limited to the interest on the part of your home mortgage debt that isn't more than your qualified loan limit. This is the part of your home mortgage debt that is grandfathered debt or that isn't more than the limits for home acquisition debt. Table 1 can help you figure your qualified loan limit and your deductible home mortgage interest.

Home acquisition debt is a mortgage you took out after October 13, , to buy, build, or substantially improve a qualified home your main or second home. It must also be secured by that home. If the amount of your mortgage is more than the cost of the home plus the cost of any substantial improvements, only the debt that isn't more than the cost of the home plus substantial improvements qualifies as home acquisition debt.

The total amount you or your spouse if married filing a joint return can treat as home acquisition debt on your main home and second home is limited based on when the debt is secured. However, a taxpayer who enters into a written binding contract before December 15, , to close on the purchase of a principal residence before January 1, , and who purchases such residence before April 1, , is considered to have incurred the home acquisition debt prior to December 16, Any secured debt you use to refinance home acquisition debt is treated as home acquisition debt.

However, the new debt will qualify as home acquisition debt only up to the amount of the balance of the old mortgage principal just before the refinancing. Any additional debt not used to buy, build, or substantially improve a qualified home isn't home acquisition debt.

A mortgage that doesn't qualify as home acquisition debt because it doesn't meet all the requirements may qualify at a later time. For example, a debt that you use to buy your home may not qualify as home acquisition debt because it isn't secured by the home.

However, if the debt is later secured by the home, it may qualify as home acquisition debt after that time. Similarly, a debt that you use to buy property may not qualify because the property isn't a qualified home. However, if the property later becomes a qualified home, the debt may qualify after that time. Mortgage treated as used to buy, build, or substantially improve home. A mortgage secured by a qualified home may be treated as home acquisition debt, even if you don't actually use the proceeds to buy, build, or substantially improve the home.

This applies in the following situations. You buy your home within 90 days before or after the date you take out the mortgage. The home acquisition debt is limited to the home's cost, plus the cost of any substantial improvements within the limit described below in 2 or 3. See Example 1 , later. You build or substantially improve your home and take out the mortgage before the work is completed. The home acquisition debt is limited to the amount of the expenses incurred within 24 months before the date of the mortgage.

You build or substantially improve your home and take out the mortgage within 90 days after the work is completed. The home acquisition debt is limited to the amount of the expenses incurred within the period beginning 24 months before the work is completed and ending on the date of the mortgage.

See Example 2 , later. You paid for the home with cash you got from the sale of your old home. You can treat the mortgage as taken out to buy your home because you bought the home within 90 days before you took out the mortgage.

The entire mortgage qualifies as home acquisition debt because it wasn't more than the home's cost. On January 31, John began building a home on the lot that he owned. The home was completed on October The mortgage can be treated as used to build the home because it was taken out within 90 days after the home was completed. The entire mortgage qualifies as home acquisition debt because it wasn't more than the expenses incurred within the period beginning 24 months before the home was completed.

This is illustrated by Figure C. Summary: This is the illustration of the description in the text determining if the whole mortgage in the example is considered home acquisition debt. The date you take out your mortgage is the day the loan proceeds are disbursed.

This is generally the closing date. You can treat the day you apply in writing for your mortgage as the date you take it out. However, this applies only if you receive the loan proceeds within a reasonable time such as within 30 days after your application is approved. If a timely application you make is rejected, a reasonable additional time will be allowed to make a new application. To determine your cost, include amounts paid to acquire any interest in a qualified home or to substantially improve the home.

The cost of building or substantially improving a qualified home includes the costs to acquire real property and building materials, fees for architects and design plans, and required building permits. Repairs that maintain your home in good condition, such as repainting your home, aren't substantial improvements. However, if you paint your home as part of a renovation that substantially improves your qualified home, you can include the painting costs in the cost of the improvements.

If you incur debt to acquire the interest of a spouse or former spouse in a home because of a divorce or legal separation, you can treat that debt as home acquisition debt.

To figure your home acquisition debt, you must divide the cost of your home and improvements between the part of your home that is a qualified home and any part that isn't a qualified home. If you took out a mortgage on your home before October 14, , or you refinanced such a mortgage, it may qualify as grandfathered debt. To qualify, it must have been secured by your qualified home on October 13, , and at all times after that date. How you used the proceeds doesn't matter. Grandfathered debt isn't limited.

All of the interest you paid on grandfathered debt is fully deductible home mortgage interest. However, the amount of your grandfathered debt reduces the limit for home acquisition debt. If you refinanced grandfathered debt after October 13, , for an amount that wasn't more than the mortgage principal left on the debt, then you still treat it as grandfathered debt.

To the extent the new debt is more than that mortgage principal, it is treated as home acquisition debt so long as the proceeds were used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home , and the mortgage is a mixed-use mortgage discussed later under Average Mortgage Balance in the Table 1 Instructions.

The debt must be secured by the qualified home. You treat grandfathered debt that was refinanced after October 13, , as grandfathered debt only for the term left on the debt that was refinanced. After that, you treat it as home acquisition debt to the extent that it was used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home.

If the debt before refinancing was like a balloon note the principal on the debt wasn't amortized over the term of the debt , then you treat the refinanced debt as grandfathered debt for the term of the first refinancing.

This term can't be more than 30 years. The mortgage was a 5-year balloon note and the entire balance on the note was due in Chester refinanced the debt in with a new year mortgage. The refinanced debt is treated as grandfathered debt for its entire term 30 years. You can deduct all of the interest you paid during the year on mortgages secured by your main home or second home in either of the following two situations.

The total of the mortgage balances for the entire year is within the limits discussed earlier under Home Acquisition Debt. Fill out only one Table 1 for both your main and second home regardless of how many mortgages you have.

Enter this amount on line 11 and go to Part II, line If line 11 is equal to or more than line 12, stop here. All of your interest on all the mortgages included on line 12 is deductible as home mortgage interest on Schedule A Form You have to figure the average balance of each mortgage to determine your qualified loan limit.

You need these amounts to complete lines 1, 2, 7, and 12 of Table 1. You can use the highest mortgage balances during the year, but you may benefit most by using the average balances.

The following are methods you can use to figure your average mortgage balances. However, if a mortgage has more than one category of debt, see Mixed-use mortgages , later, in this section. You didn't borrow any new amounts on the mortgage during the year. This doesn't include borrowing the original mortgage amount. You didn't prepay more than 1 month's principal during the year. This includes prepayment by refinancing your home or by applying proceeds from its sale.

You had to make level payments at fixed equal intervals on at least a semi-annual basis. You treat your payments as level even if they were adjusted from time to time because of changes in the interest rate. To figure your average balance, complete the following worksheet.

You can use this method if at all times in the mortgage was secured by your qualified home and the interest was paid at least monthly. Complete the following worksheet to figure your average balance. Blue had a mortgage secured by his main home all year. If you receive monthly statements showing the closing balance or the average balance for the month, you can use either to figure your average balance for the year. You can treat the balance as zero for any month the mortgage wasn't secured by your qualified home.

For each mortgage, figure your average balance by adding your monthly closing or average balances and dividing that total by the number of months the home secured by that mortgage was a qualified home during the year.

If your lender can give you your average balance for the year, you can use that amount. Brown had a home loan secured by her main home all year. She received monthly statements showing her average balance for each month. She can figure her average balance for the year by adding her monthly average balances and dividing the total by A mixed-use mortgage is a loan that consists of more than one of the three categories of debt grandfathered debt, home acquisition debt, and home equity debt.

For example, a mortgage you took out during the year is a mixed-use mortgage if you used its proceeds partly to refinance a mortgage that you took out in an earlier year to buy your home home acquisition debt and partly to buy a car home equity debt. Complete lines 1, 2, and 7 of Table 1 by including the separate average balances of any grandfathered debt and home acquisition debt determined by the date the debt was acquired in your mixed-use mortgage.

Instead, for each category, use the following method. Figure the balance of that category of debt for each month. This is the amount of the loan proceeds allocated to that category, reduced by your principal payments on the mortgage previously applied to that category. Principal payments on a mixed-use mortgage are applied in full to each category of debt, until its balance is zero, in the following order.

First, any home equity debt not used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home. Complete line 12 of Table 1 using the figure from line 2 above. She refinanced the debt in with a new year mortgage grandfathered debt. To complete Table 1, line 7, Sharon must figure a separate average balance for the part of her second mortgage that is home acquisition debt. They also have higher marginal tax rates that make deductions more valuable. You may also be able to deduct late payment fees, discount points and mortgage insurance premiums.

You can deduct the points you pay to reduce your mortgage interest rate either in the year you pay them or proportionately over the life of your loan. You can do the same for points the seller pays when you buy a home, or points you pay on a home equity loan or HELOC whose proceeds you use to build, buy or substantially improve your home. In and , mortgage insurance premiums are tax deductible as mortgage interest, too. Home equity debt is included in this new limit. The TCJA applies through the tax year.

The mortgage interest deduction benefits far fewer households under the new law. The TCJA nearly doubled the standard deduction, and fewer people itemize as a result. The property taxes homeowners pay fall into that category.

State tax rates are lower than federal tax rates, though, so the deduction is more valuable at the federal level. Eligible homeowners can claim the mortgage interest tax deduction on Schedule A of their annual tax returns. Schedule A accompanies Form or SR a simplified for seniors.

To find out how much mortgage interest you paid during the year, look at your mortgage interest statement, IRS Form Your lender will send one copy of this form to you and one copy to the IRS. IRS Publication , updated annually, contains all the information most taxpayers will need to determine their eligibility for the mortgage interest tax deduction.

Taxpayers with complex situations may need to ask a Certified Public Accountant for help. The mortgage interest tax deduction can make borrowing money to buy a home slightly less of a financial burden, especially if you have a high income and a large mortgage.

It also lowered the threshold for what mortgages allow a mortgage interest tax deduction. For mortgages that originated before Dec. So itemizing only makes sense if your total mortgage interest, taxes, charitable donations, and other tax-deductible expenses add up to more than the standard deduction amount you qualify for, Steber says.

Since mortgage interest rates were so low this year, people, in general, paid less in interest, so it could be better to skip the mortgage interest deduction and take the standard, explains Steber. If you work with a tax pro to file your taxes, they can help determine this based on your individual circumstances. Typically arriving to you in January, this form will contain the amount of the loan and the interest you paid.

Determine if you can itemize your deductions. If you choose itemized deduction, you can select deductions such as mortgage interest, student loan interest, medical expenses, etc. Add up the total interest on Form , along with other items like state and local income tax, mortgage insurance, and charitable donations. If this total exceeds the standard deduction, then you may see a better return with the itemized path. To itemize, complete the Schedule A with your tax return. This form is where you list out all of your itemized tax deductions.

Keep records for at least seven years. What Qualifies for This Deduction in ? Your mortgage is the secured loan in this case, which means in the event of a defaulted loan, the lender can take possession of your home.