On Sun, 22 Mar 2009 10:52:04 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:


"Don White" wrote in message
.. .

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...

On Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:10:52 -0500, thunder
wrote:


This wasn't about home ownership. It was about using houses as banks.
Sucking out any equity, to pay of credit card bills. Flipping houses
expecting a 10-15% return in a year. It was a bubble, and like all
bubbles, it burst. It wasn't Clinton's fault. It wasn't Bush's fault.
It was *our* fault.

Bull****. I had nothing to do with it.

--Vic

This all started with tax reform legislation passed by Congress in 1986.
Reagan was president and the Democrats had control of congress. Up until
then individuals could deduct things like interest paid on car loans and
credit cards. The tax reform bill eventually (first year it reduced it
to 65%) did away with these deductions, so people started getting 2nd
mortgages or "home equity lines of credit" to purchase big ticket items
because the interest paid was still deductable.

It's ironic that the tax reform bill of 1986, passed despite Reagan's
opposition to it, is now under "revision" by the Obama administration.
They are proposing the equivalent of tax credits if you buy a new car in
an effort to stimulate the economy.

Eisboch


..and they call us a socialist country!
Up here, the average citizen can't deduct interest from your tax return
for interest paid on a home, or any other possession.. unless you are
showing that poperty/vehicle as a business expense.
If you have an office in your home and can show income derived from it's
use..you can deduct the fraction of your expenses based on the percentage
of square footage that office represents. As for the vehicle, you have to
estimate how much of the mileage is business related and claim expenses on
that ratio.


Pretty much the same here except interest paid on a home mortgage (prime
residence only)qualifies for a tax deduction. You can claim interest paid
for a second home mortgage or qualifying boat loan (and maybe an RV .... not
sure) only if you don't have a mortgage on your prime residence that you
are claiming a deduction for.

Car loan and credit card interest deductions were phased out.

Eisboch

I think you've got that wrong. It may be that the AMT rules require
the lack of a mortgage on your main home, but generally you can deduct
mortgage interest for both your main and second home, which may be a
boat or an RV meeting the criteria.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p936/ar02.html
--

John H

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government
results from too much government."

Thomas Jefferson