How much of a return do you get on your tax returns if you own a home?

Question

I am about to own my first house in a month or so and I'm paying $156,000 for it. Do I get any extra money in my tax returns for owning a house?

Answer 1

depends on how big a loan you have on your house and how much interest you paid over the last year to detemine your adjustment to your taxable income for tax purposes ..

Answer 2

If you're able to itemize your deductions you will be able to claim mortgage interest and property taxes on the home. People who usually would get no benefit from itemizing, often find that changes after purchasing a home. Since the majority of your first several years payments is interest, that will push people over the standard deduction, therefore making it worthwhile to itemize. The standard deductions for 2007 are:

Single - $5,350
Married filing Joint or Surviving Spouse - $10,700
Head of Household - $7,850
Married filing separately - $5,350

As mentioned above, points or prepaid interest is also deductible. However, you normally can't deduct them all at once. They have to be amortized over the life of the loan. In other words if your loan is for 36 years, you would take your total points, divide by 36, and deduct that amount each year. There are cases where you can deduct them all in the first year, but there are quite a few conditions to meet first.

That's pretty much it while you own the home, unless you use it as a home office or something. There are some small credits for qualified energy-efficient improvements. Look up Form 5695 at www.irs.gov, and read the instructions. The most you can claim is $500.

You can exclue up to $250,000 worth of the gain on the sale, or $500,000 if you're married filing jointly when you sell the home, as long as you meet the requirements (most important of which is living in the house two years out of the prior five years).


Hope this helps!

Answer 3

You can deduct:
1. interest paid on your mortgage, but not the amount paid to decrease the principle (the amount the house actually cost).
2. real estate taxes paid.
3. if you work from home and maintain a home office, you may be able to deduct part of the cost of your home as a business expense. The room in question must be dedicated solely to your business. You would need to check with a CPA to make sure you are eligible for this deduction, because the rules can be tricky.

Answer 4

When you own a house you will get to take more deductions. Thins like the interest you pay for your mortgage each month and your property taxes. I know that when I bought my house my tax return refund double from what I normally get.

Answer 5

You don't get anything extra just for owning a house, but if your total itemized deductions are more than your standard deduction, then you'll itemize and that will reduce the total tax that you owe. Itemized deductions include mortgage interest and property taxes.

As far as refunds go, you get a refund if you have more withheld than your total tax liability.

Answer 6

You get extra money in your tax return for writing off the interest on your mortgage that you pay every year. Not the house itself.

Answer 7

VERY IMPORTANT!
Besides the interest you pay on the loan, you also get to right off the money spent on "points" to get the loan. This is for the first year only, and can be thousands. In my case, it was about $2500 dollars. Don't miss out on it , it is for the first year only. The year the sale took place.
The interest is for the first year and all years that follow for the duration of the loan.
And also property taxes.

Answer 8

the amount of interest you pay each month for your mortgage is deductible. So, for example, if you pay $900 a month for your mortgage, and $850 of that is interest, you don't have to pay taxes on the $850.

Answer 9

You will get the itemized deduction for the mortgage interest and the real estate taxes.
Congrats!

Answer 10

You get to deduct the intrest you pay on your loan from your income.