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Your Home as a Tax Shelter: Top Ten Tax Deductions for Owning Your Home
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7. Selling Costs
If you decide to sell your home, you'll be able to reduce your taxable capital gain by the amount of your selling costs.
Real estate broker's commissions, title insurance, legal fees, advertising costs, administrative costs, and inspection fees are all considered selling costs. In addition, the IRS recognizes that costs ordinarily attributed to decorating or repairs -- painting, wallpapering, planting flowers, maintenance, and the like -- are also selling costs if you complete them within 90 days of your sale and with the intention of making the home more saleable.
All selling costs are deducted from your gain. Your gain is your home's selling price, minus deductible closing costs, selling costs, and your tax basis in the property. (Your basis is the original purchase price, plus the cost of capital improvements, minus any depreciation.)
8. Capital Gains Exclusion
Married taxpayers who file jointly now get to keep, tax free, up to $500,000 in profit on the sale of a home used as a principal residence for two of the prior five years. Single folks and married taxpayers who file separately get to keep up to $250,000 each tax free. (For more information, see Tax Breaks for Selling Your Home.)
9. Moving Costs
If you move because you got a new job, you may be able to deduct some of your moving costs. To qualify for these deductions you must meet several IRS requirements, including that your new job must be at least 50 miles farther from your old home than your old job was. Moving cost deductions can include travel or transportation costs, expenses for lodging, and fees for storing your household goods.
10. Mortgage Tax Credit
A home-buying program called mortgage credit certificate (MCC) allows low-income, first-time homebuyers to benefit from a mortgage interest tax credit of up to 20% of the mortgage interest payments made on a home (the amount of the credit varies by jurisdiction). You must first apply to your state or local government for an actual certificate. This credit is available each year you keep the loan and live in the house purchased with the certificate. The credit is subtracted, dollar for dollar, from the income tax owed.
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For more information on real estate tax laws, visit www.irs.gov. You'll find basic information for first-time homeowners (IRS Publication 530) and publications about selling your house (IRS Publication 523), business use of your home (Publication 587), moving expenses (Publication 521), and home mortgage interest deductions (Publication 936).
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For a complete guide to lowering your taxes, including detailed information about deductions related to your home, get Lower Taxes in 7 Easy Steps, by Stephen Fishman (Nolo).
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