A decade ago, some homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure or set up a short sale to get out from under the debt during the mortgage meltdown that caused the Great Recession. Lenders forgave all or part of the debt owed them in most cases. Again, in the early ’90s we had the Savings & […]
In 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act increased the standard deduction for married couples to $24,000. In some instances, homeowners may be better off using the standard deduction than itemizing on their return. Previously, homeowners could get a better benefit with itemizing but there is now a $10,000 limit of state and local taxes […]
Creating a good outcome requires a little knowledge about what you are about to do. To be aware that there are tax laws about homes that you might not know about and may come up in your tax return. But if you are informed, you can point these out to your tax preparer or seek […]
During the housing market bust that happened around 2007, some existing homeowners opted to rent out their main residence instead of selling it for less money. Interestingly, the IRS tax code will allow the temporary rental of a principal residence without the homeowner losing the exclusion of their capital gain with some time limit restrictions. […]
The other day someone called a radio talk show and had a situation that troubled the caller and is also disturbing to listeners because of the potential tax liability and steps that can be taken to avoid it. The elderly father of the caller had switched his deed on his home to his daughter a […]
