Seeking help on this scenario. Have HELOC on the house we are living in. We borrow money on the HELOC to build another house and move into the new house. Turn the old one with the HELOC into a rental property. I am a realtor and actively manage this rental property as a full time professional. As part of my active business, I can deduct any losses that I have on the rental property – which are mortgage interest and property taxes minus rental income. Now the question is can I deduct the HELOC interest that was used for building my current primary home? What happens I pay off some of this HELOC debt and draw again for some other uses later on. Which means it is like an account where I can borrow and pay off – with interest deduction. Greatly appreciate any thoughts.
I believe when we made the house a rental there was a 0K HELOC and it was further increased to 0K. After that I paid off some, reduced to 0K.
All the initial 0K draw on HELOC was used for the new home construction.

I am married, without kids. I have worked hard for years and have now paid off my house, yet you get a deduction for carrying debt in the form of mortgage interest. You may even get some relief for the sub-prime debacle once congress is done with things.
I don’t have any secondary mortgages to pay for toys and obtain additional write-offs. I live within my means (which is how I managed to become debt free). Interest payments goes towards business, which is very different than government so I can’t understand an argument that it is close to a “wash” whether you pay the interest or the taxes.
I don’t have kids – why on earth should that constitute a credit?
I don’t qualify for social programs, yet I pay 50+ times more in taxes than those that benefit from them.
Why should I strive to be fiscally independent, yet our government shows no sign of comprehending that model.

I am interested in opinions on why I should be treated any differently from a taxation standpoint.

I want to claim 7 allowances, my payroll manager said that was an awful lot. She would not offer any "adivse" or help to determine the number. So am I crazy? Perhaps someone out here can help me out…

I am filing jointly.
I make 000 with 00 annual bonus
My wife makes 000 with no regular bonus
No significant dividends, interest, etc.

Itemized Deductions:
000 Total Mortgage Interest for the year
00 Property Tax
0 Ad Volerum Tax (My State’s "Birthday" Tax)
00 State Tax
0 Charity
0 Car Loan Interest (does this even qualify?)
00 Business Mileage (this was reimbursed, do I still use it?)
00 Health Insurance (this may be pre-taxed?)
50 My 401K contribution (this may be pre-taxed?)
50 My Wife’s 401K contribution (again might be pre-taxed?)
No Children

I am guessing whatever the magic number is that I would do that only one W4, and would claim 0 on the other form…
In response to the third reply:

I was under the impression that deductions were most definitely revelant to Allowances you would claim. Is this not true? Isn’t the point to claim enough allowances so that you are very close to what you actually owe at the end of the year after deductions and credits.

Also, I was about 99% sure the Car Loan, Mileage, 401K, and Health Insurance did not qualify. I just wanted to check.

Pub 587 says you can deduct expenses for a separate free-standing structure if you use it exclusively and regularly for business. We’re looking at a 10×10 unit. Based on size, the structure does not require city permits and is not included in the overall property appraisal value. How would you calculate the depreciation expense and portion of utilities on the Worksheet to Figure the Deduction for Business Use of Your Home?

For example –
Home is 900 sq ft and Seperate structure office is 100 sq ft
Home original cost 300,000 (Land = 200K, Bldg = 100K)
Separate structure original cost = 10,000

Method A: Office space is 10% of total square footage. Total basis is 100K + 10K = 110K. Depreciation basis for structure is 10% or 11,000.

Method B: Original cost of separate structure used for depreciation basis 10,000

If using Method B, would you still use 10% square footage to determine indirect expenses like utilities? Can you include mortgage interest and property tax?

I bought a home in November, ‘07 and am renting out my old property that I lived in until November. The renter moved in Dec 1, but due to a promotional two month no-rent period, they didn’t start paying until February ‘08. I also did about 00 worth of repairs on the old property in November to prepare for the renter moving in.

Specifically, I’m interested in:
* Mortgage interested. Where do I place each? Is the mortgage interest for the old property a personal or business expense or a primary residence since I lived there 11 months? Or is it prorated?
* Are property taxes on the old property personal or business expenses?
* Are the property taxes on the
I paid mortgage interest on both the old and new property that year business or personal expenses?
* Can I deduct the promotional cost (2 month free rent) as a business expense?
* Can I deduct the repairs as a business expense?
* Can I deduct the last 2 months of association fees and homeowners insurance as business expense?

We’ve used the same tax preparer for many years. Nothing fancy, one of the big name franchise’s. Without any major deductions or audit flags we’ve been selected for an IRS audit. My wife and I are both W-2 workers and collectively earn just under 0K/yr, claim standard deductions (mortgage interest, kids (no EIC), nominal business expenses — less than 00/yr for business supplies, lunches, etc… and some mileage for business travel in a car that I own, (less than 10K miles per year and I’m in B2B sales), no investment losses or non-standard or "creative" deductions). Just seems so odd that we’d be selected for an audit. Is my tax preparer accountable to me for this audit? Is selection totally arbitrary or, are certain flags looked for?
Appreciate all the feedback. Yes, business expenses are unreimbursed, mileage claimed is mileage not paid by my employer for business travel in my own vehicle. And, perhaps "liable" was a poor choice of words. I think "accountable" is probably better. Just seems we pay a fair premium for sound advice in completing our returns and advising us on what we should include and what not to include (so to speak). I’d like to believe I’ve paid for a bit more than someone simply filling in the blanks with the info I’ve provided. Wouldn’t be much of a service if that were the case.

I work for a small business. I do all of my work (except client site visits) from my home office. However, since I also use my home office for personal use during non-working hours, I assume I cannot take the home office deduction (correct)?

Here is my question regarding mileage – I’m testing this using both TaxCut and TurboTax. In both cases, when I enter my mileage, it does not seem to reduce my tax owed. When I tell the program I want to use the home office deduction, then my mileage makes a difference. If I tell it not to do the home office deduction, then my entering mileage makes no difference. So, can I only deduct my mileage if I take the home office deduction? I haven’t read anything to indicate this, but the actions of the tax software programs leads me to believe that this is the case.

I don’t know if this matters, but I itemize my deductions (mostly due to mortgage interest & real estate taxes paid). I do not take the standard deduction.
Edit – I am a W2 employee. This is less than 2% of our joint AGI, so I guess that’s why it isn’t letting me take it. Thanks for the replies!

If I own a business that loses ,000 on paper……and I have another regular job that pays ,000/year….can I deduct the ,000 business loss form my ,000 job income? In other words, can I claim k in taxableincome, les my regular deductions (mortgage interest, local taxes, etc.)?

Is the answer the same if the business is an LLC vs. a sole proprietorship?

my wifes parents are claiming bankruptcy (business closed) and are leaving their house. we would like to buy a housethey could stay in, near to us (within 5 miles). Some lenders require more (down payment/higher rate) because this is an "investment property" but i have been told that they are family and this could be my second home (lower down/lower rate). my attorney states that we should have a lease, and would pay taxes on a fair market rent, but we dont plan on charging them. Will I have to pay taxes on a non-existent income? can I still get the tax deductions for mortgage interest and city taxes I pay? can they homestead the property? I’m lost. any knowledgeable direction is greatly appreciated. Basically, can I buy a second home for myself and let my in-laws stay for free? Will I have claim this as income producing (even though it’s not)? Are tax advantages better one way or another?

I use my home for small business. However every time I put in expense like cell phone or utilities, I got less refund. Before I put in any expense, I can get 00 refund, but if I add cell phone or utilities expense 00 for my home business, the refund will be lowered to 00.
Also it won’t help on mortgage interest and property tax, since you already deduct them with your normal itemized deductions.
What’s the problem with this? I think atleast I can deduct some expense.
I am not getting EIC.