On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 22:01:15 -0500, DSK wrote:

Fred Dehl wrote:
It's hard to qualify for a deduction when YOU PAY NO INCOME TAXES IN THE
FIRST PLACE. The bottom FIFTY PERCENT of taxpayers pays ONLY FIVE PERCENT
of income taxes.

I see that a few people are still SHOUTING their stupid
political lies here. Obviously you did not bother to check
the IRS web site for actual tax figures. The truth is very
easy to find.

Hey Fred, got a boat?

As for the reason for tax deductions for the *interest* on
boat loans, it depends on your point of view. In one way, it
is an indirect subsidy for the banking industry. In another
way of looking at it, it's a fair way of stimulating the
economy by encouraging people to buy things.

FWIW we have used the boat loan interest deduction for
years. There are several criteria, among them that the boat
has to have a potty & a galley, and you have to sleep on
board for a certain number of nights per year.

DSK

The requirements for claiming the interest deduction on a boat as a 'second home' do
not include sleeping on it for 'a certain number of nights per year." That
requirement would exist if you used your boat as a rental property. Here, from Pub
936:

"Qualified Home

For you to take a home mortgage interest deduction, your debt must be secured by a
qualified home. This means your main home or your second home. A home includes a
house, condominium, cooperative, mobile home, house trailer, boat, or similar
property that has sleeping, cooking, and toilet facilities.

snippage

Main home. You can have only one main home at any one time. This is the home where
you ordinarily live most of the time.

Second home. A second home is a home that you choose to treat as your second home.

Second home not rented out. If you have a second home that you do not hold out for
rent or resale to others at any time during the year, you can treat it as a qualified
home. You do not have to use the home during the year."

--
John H.

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes