If death and taxes are two things you can always count on in life, there should probably be a third: the slew of tax breaks offered every year to encourage more Americans to buy a home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Owning a home is a pretty big deal, so the tax law provides several ways for your homeownership costs to cut your taxes. Certain expenses are deductible, provided you itemize deductions. Let\u2019s take a look at some of these deductions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is one of the most common tax breaks for homeowners, and applies to both your main home and a second home. The amount of qualified mortgage interest you paid in a year is typically reported on Form 1098, which is sent to the homeowner from the lender. To be eligible to deduct mortgage interest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A “point” on a home mortgage is a payment that equals 1% of your total loan amount, and is paid up front to a lender to reduce your total interest rate. Unfortunately, you can only deduct the amount of any points paid in the year that you paid them \u2014 so if you’ve taken out a new home loan in the past year and paid points, don’t miss this tax break!<\/p>\n\n\n\n