if i rent my townhouse and I stay in a rental apartment do I still get the $10K Std Deduction?

Question

When I live in my townhouse, I dont use the Std Deduction of 10K because my itemized deductions are more than 10K; if I rent it then I can wirte off the Mortgage payment aganist the rental income; but do I get the 10K standard deduction? I live in California, USA

Answer 1

Yes

The mortgage deduction would move to Schedule E along with any other expenses and, of course, the rental income.

Answer 2

You can't write off your entire mortgage payment against the rental income. You can write off the real estate tax portion, though.

And yes, no matter where you're living, you get the greater of the standard deduction or your total itemized deductions.

Answer 3

In a word, yes. You still should add up your itemized deductions and see if they exceed your standard deduction, but you are entitled to either the standard deduction or your itemized deductions, whichever amount is greater.