I've always wondered about getting back more on my taxes and writing stuff off. I don't have a business or anything like that, but I recently baught a home and stuff to go in int, like a refrigerator and carpet and stuff....only to find out this can't be written off on your taxes. Is this true? I know the value of my home will go up these were somethings I had to do, but...is this true, they can't be written off.
2007-09-22 18:50:45 · 4 answers · asked by Deedter 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
Yes, its true. The only way these things can be written off is if you rented the house out.
Improvements you make to the home can be added to your basis (what you paid for the house.) When you sell the house, you would subtract your adjusted basis from your sale price and that would be your gain on the sale of the house.
Improvements include: siding, new roof, new furnace, adding a new room, etc.
Appliances cannot be added to your basis as they are not part of the house. Repairs also cannot be added to the basis.
Repairs include: painting, minor plumbing or electrical, etc.
2007-09-22 19:06:50 · answer #1 · answered by Mark S 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
If you get a writeoff for something, that means the other taxpayers are helping to support your purchase. Why would I contribute to your new refrigerator?
If you bought a house, you can deduct mortgage interest and real estate taxes if you itemize. The reason the tax code allows this is that the government wants to encourage home ownership.
2007-09-22 19:48:15 · answer #2 · answered by Judy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That is true, you can't write off expense for things you buy for your personal residence. If it was for a rental property then you could write off expenses for it, because you'd be getting income for renting it out. If you did improvements to your house you should keep track of those though, because you can add the cost of the improvements to what you paid for the house in order to figure out what your basis is for the house for when/if ever you sell it down the road. Then you'd have to be concerned with Capital gains on the sale of house, possibly.
2007-09-22 19:58:36 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, the cost of home is not deductible. However, the mortgage interest is deductible if you itemize your deductions.
When you sell your home, and if you have lived in it for two years and own it for two years in the last five years, then the profit up to $250,000 ($500,000 for Married Filing Jointly) is not taxable.
2007-09-22 19:30:06 · answer #4 · answered by MukatA 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋