{"id":20473,"date":"2017-06-14T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/"},"modified":"2024-08-05T11:54:49","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T16:54:49","slug":"tax-deductions-for-home-purchase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/tax-deductions-for-home-purchase\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there a tax deduction for buying a house?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For most people, buying a house is a huge financial step with lots of associated costs. As a newly minted homeowner, you may be wondering if there&#8217;s a tax deduction for buying a house.  Unfortunately, most of the expenses you paid when buying your home are not deductible in the year of purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only tax deductions on a home purchase you may qualify for is the prepaid mortgage interest (points). To deduct prepaid mortgage interest (points) paid to the lender if you must meet these qualifications:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your main home secures your loan (your main home is the one you live in most of the time).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Paying points is an established business practice in your area.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The points you paid weren&#8217;t more than the amount usually charged in that area.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You use the cash method of accounting. This means you report income in the year you receive it and deduct expenses in the year you pay them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The points you paid weren&#8217;t for items that are usually listed separately on the settlement sheet. Ex: appraisal fees, inspection fees, title fees, attorney fees, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/income\/real-estate\/real-estate-taxes-vs-property-taxes\/\">property taxes<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The funds you provided at or before closing, including any points the seller paid, were at least as much as the points charged.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You didn&#8217;t borrow funds from your lender or mortgage broker to pay the points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You used your loan to buy or build your main home.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The points were computed as a percentage of the principal amount of the mortgage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The amount shows clearly as points on your settlement statement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Other fees that you paid before or at closing aren&#8217;t deductible. However, they&#8217;re included in your basis of the home. These fees include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Title insurance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Appraisals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Abstract fees<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recording fees<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Surveys<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can deduct some of the ongoing payments you make for owning your home, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Real estate taxes actually paid to the taxing authority<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Qualifying home mortgage interest<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mortgage insurance premiums<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can&#8217;t deduct these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Property insurance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Depreciation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Utility payments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For most people, buying a house is a huge financial step with lots of associated costs. As a newly minted homeowner, you may be wondering if there&#8217;s a tax deduction for buying a house. Unfortunately, most of the expenses you paid when buying your home are not deductible in the year of purchase. The only [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,125,23342,23343],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjustments-and-deductions","category-filing","category-life-stages","category-home"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Tax Deductions For Home Purchase | H&amp;R Block<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Get more from your tax return and learn what tax deductions are available for home purchases with help from the tax experts at H&amp;R Block.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/tax-deductions-for-home-purchase\/\" \/>\n<meta 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