I seller's deliquent taxes were included in my purchase price. Can I write them off as my basis to my home?

Question

the taxes were listed under the "Paid from funds at settlement" column on the HUD sheet.

Answer 1

were they listed separately?

taxes are not attached to homes, they are attached to people. however, with a tax lein the seller cannot sell, refinance, etc. without taking care of these costs. what that probably means to you, is no. you cant write someone elses taxes off. lets say the sales price is 200K. but really it is 10K in leins and the seller wants 190K for the house. unless otherwise noted in the purchase contract, the house sales price is 200K (not 190K + 10K). If it is listed on the HUD (paid outside of closing) then the answer is no.

Basically, my first thought is no. you paid the sellers taxes and will have good karma for it, and not much else. but dont forget that you can write of mortgage interest and all non-re-occuring closing costs.

Answer 2

You must be asking about delinquent property taxes because any other taxes would have been a result of a lien against the property and would have been paid from seller's funds.

See IRS Pub 551, page 2 right-hand column under"real estate taxes". It is dead on-point. They increase your basis
(not a current deduction).

Answer 3

No, they were paid from the seller's funds, not yours. You didn't pay the delinquent taxes, the seller did.