Life Changing Events Can Impact Your Taxes
Throughout your life there will be certain significant occasions that will impact not only your day-to-day living but also your taxes. Here are a few of those events:
Tag Archives: Home and Mortgage
Sold or Thinking of Selling Your Home?
If you sold your home this year or are thinking about selling it, there are many tax-related issues that could apply to that sale. To help you prepare for reporting the sale you may have already made or make you aware of what issues you may face if you are in the “thinking about” stage, this article covers the tax basics and some special situations related to home sales and the home-sale gain exclusion.
Tax Treatment of Reverse Mortgages
With inflation on the rise and medical care costs escalating, what options do seniors have for keeping up, especially if they have a mortgage on their home and their retirement income is only barely covering their mortgage payments and other necessities, with little left over for some enjoyment in their golden years, without relying on help from family?
One choice may be a reverse mortgage, which would allow the homeowner(s) to borrow against the equity they have built up in their home over the years. The loan is not due until the homeowner passes away or moves out of the home. If the homeowner dies, then the homeowner’s heirs can pay off the debt by selling the house, and any remaining equity goes to them. If the loan balance at that time is equal to or more than the home’s value, then the repayment amount is limited to the home’s worth. Generally, the reverse mortgage won’t be due as long as at least one homeowner lives in the home as their primary home.
Continue reading →Tax Rules for Home Flippers
With mortgage interest rates low, flipping real estate appears to be on the rise. This activity is even the theme of several popular reality TV shows. House flipping is, essentially, purchasing a house or property, improving it and then selling it (presumably for a profit) in a short period of time. The key is to find a suitable fixer-upper that is priced under market for its location, fix it up and resell it for more than it cost to buy, hold, fix up and resell.
Are you contemplating trying your hand at flipping? If so, keep in mind that you will have a silent partner, Uncle Sam, who will be waiting to take his share of any profits in taxes. (And most likely, Sam’s cousin in your state capitol will expect a share, too.) Taxes play a significant role in the overall transaction, and tax treatment can be quite different depending upon whether you are a dealer, an investor or a homeowner. The following is the current tax treatment for each.
Continue reading →What Are the Tax Advantages of Home Ownership?
Housing is a big expense for everyone. The choice generally involves either renting or purchasing – and financing that purchase with a home loan. As of November 2020, the nationwide average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was just under 3%, the lowest it has been in the last 50 years or even longer. Many individuals are taking advantage of the historically low rates to buy their first home, sell their existing home to move up to a more expensive one, or refinance their existing mortgage. Some who currently own their homes free and clear are even taking out loans to lock in the low interest rates. This article looks at the tax benefits and drawbacks of buying, financing, and owning a home.
If You Are Facing Foreclosure, Here Are Tax Issues You Will Confront
As this pandemic continues to wreak havoc on people’s finances, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will extend foreclosure moratoriums to December 31, 2020 and perhaps longer.
You Should Be Keeping Home Improvement Records
Individuals who meet the 2-out-of-5-year use and ownership tests can exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 if both filer and spouse qualify) of gain from the sale of their home, and generally don’t need to keep a record of improvements made to the home. However, in many instances the gain from the home’s sale can be substantially higher than the allowable exclusion amount; having a record of improvements can be very beneficial and lead to tax savings.
Mortgage Insurance Premium Deduction Retroactively Extended
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Appropriations Act of 2020, which included a number of tax law changes, including retroactively extending certain tax provisions that expired after 2017 or were about to expire, a number of retirement and IRA plan modifications, and other changes that will impact a large portion of U.S. taxpayers as a whole. This article is one of a series of articles dealing with those changes and how they may affect you.
For tax years 2007 through 2017, when taxpayers itemized deductions, they could deduct the cost of premiums for mortgage insurance on a qualified personal residence as home mortgage interest.
This deduction has been retroactively extended back to 2018 and through 2020. If you paid premiums for mortgage insurance in 2018 or were amortizing prepaid mortgage insurance premiums from an earlier year’s home purchase, you may be able to amend your 2018 return for a tax refund.
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