Buying A Home On Social Security

This publication provides tax information for homeowners. Your home may be a house, condominium, cooperative apartment, mobile home, houseboat, or house trailer that contains sleeping space and toilet and cooking facilities.

buying a home on social security

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If you took out a mortgage (loan) to finance the purchase of your home, you probably have to make monthly house payments. Your house payment may include several costs of owning a home. The only costs you can deduct are state and local real estate taxes actually paid to the taxing authority and interest that qualifies as home mortgage interest.These are discussed in more detail later.

If you meet the rules to deduct all of the mortgage interest on your loan and all of the real estate taxes on your main home, then you can use a special method to figure your deduction for mortgage interest and real estate taxes on your main home.

Real estate taxes are generally divided so that you and the seller each pay taxes for the part of the property tax year you owned the home. Your share of these taxes is fully deductible if you itemize your deductions.

You bought your home on September 1. The property tax year (the period to which the tax relates) in your area is the calendar year. The tax for the year was $730 and was due and paid by the seller on August 15.

You owned your new home during the property tax year for 122 days (September 1 to December 31, including your date of purchase). You figure your deduction for real estate taxes on your home as follows.

You can't deduct transfer taxes and similar taxes and charges on the sale of a personal home. If you are the buyer and you pay them, include them in the cost basis of the property. If you are the seller and you pay them, they are expenses of the sale and reduce the amount realized on the sale.

If you own a cooperative apartment, some special rules apply to you, though you generally receive the same tax treatment as other homeowners. As an owner of a cooperative apartment, you own shares of stock in a corporation that owns or leases housing facilities. You can deduct your share of the corporation's deductible real estate taxes if the cooperative housing corporation meets the following conditions.

Generally, you can elect to deduct state and local general sales taxes instead of state and local income taxes as an itemized deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040). You must check the box on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 5a, if you elect this option. Deductible sales taxes may include sales taxes paid on your home (including mobile and prefabricated), or home building materials if the tax rate was the same as the general sales tax rate. For information on figuring your deduction, see the Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040).

Your deduction for home mortgage interest is subject to a number of limits. If one or more of the following limits apply, see Pub. 936 to figure your deduction. Also see Pub. 936 if you later refinance your mortgage or buy a second home.

You can only deduct home mortgage interest to the extent that the loan proceeds from your home mortgage are used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home securing the loan. The only exception to this limit is for loans taken out on or before October 13, 1987; the loan proceeds for these loans are treated as having been used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home. See Pub. 936 for more information about loans taken out on or before October 13, 1987.

For qualifying debt taken out on or before December 15, 2017, you can only deduct home mortgage interest on up to $1 million ($500,000 if you are married filing separately) of that debt. The only exception is for loans taken out on or before October 13, 1987; see Pub. 936 for more information about loans taken out on or before October 13, 1987.

For qualifying debt taken out after December 15, 2017, you can only deduct home mortgage interest on up to $750,000 ($375,000 if you are married filing separately) of that debt. If you also have qualifying debt subject to the $1 million ($500,000 if you are married filing separately) limitation discussed under Limit on loans taken out on or before December 15, 2017, earlier, the $750,000 limit for debt taken out after December 15, 2017, is reduced by the amount of your qualifying debt subject to the $1 million limit. An exception exists for certain loans taken out after December 15, 2017, but before April 1, 2018. If the exception applies, your loan may be treated in the same manner as a loan taken out on or before December 15, 2017. See Pub. 936 for more information about this exception.

If you receive a refund of home mortgage interest that you deducted in an earlier year and that reduced your tax, you must generally include the refund in income in the year you receive it. For more information, see Recoveries in Pub. 525. The amount of the refund will usually be shown on the mortgage interest statement you receive from your mortgage lender. See Mortgage Interest Statement, later.

To be deductible, the interest you pay must be on a loan secured by your main home or a second home, regardless of how the loan is labeled. The loan can be a first or second mortgage, a home improvement loan, a home equity loan, or a refinanced mortgage.

If you pay interest in advance for a period that goes beyond the end of the tax year, you must spread this interest over the tax years to which it applies. Generally, you can deduct in each year only the interest that qualifies as home mortgage interest for that year. An exception (discussed later) applies to points.

If you pay off your home mortgage early, you may have to pay a penalty. You can deduct that penalty as home mortgage interest, provided the penalty isn't for a specific service performed or cost incurred in connection with your mortgage loan.

In some states (such as Maryland), you may buy your home subject to a ground rent. A ground rent is an obligation you assume to pay a fixed amount per year on the property. Under this arrangement, you are leasing (rather than buying) the land on which your home is located.

You can usually treat the interest on a loan you took out to buy stock in a cooperative housing corporation as home mortgage interest if you own a cooperative apartment, and the cooperative housing corporation meets the conditions described earlier under Special Rules for Cooperatives. In addition, you can treat as home mortgage interest your share of the corporation's deductible mortgage interest. Figure your share of mortgage interest the same way that is shown for figuring your share of real estate taxes in the Example under Division of real estate taxes, earlier. For more information on cooperatives, see Special Rule for Tenant-Stockholders in Cooperative Housing Corporations in Pub. 936.

If you use part of the refinanced mortgage proceeds to substantially improve your main home and you meet the first six tests listed earlier, you can fully deduct the part of the points related to the improvement in the year you paid them with your own funds. You can deduct the rest of the points over the life of the loan.

When you took out a $100,000 mortgage loan to buy your home in December, you were charged one point ($1,000). You meet all the tests for deducting points in the year paid (see Exception, earlier), except the only funds you provided were a $750 down payment. Of the $1,000 you were charged for points, you can deduct $750 in the year paid. You spread the remaining $250 over the life of the mortgage.

The facts are the same as in Example 1, except that the person who sold you your home also paid one point ($1,000) to help you get your mortgage. In the year paid, you can deduct $1,750 ($750 of the amount you were charged plus the $1,000 paid by the seller). You spread the remaining $250 over the life of the mortgage. You must reduce the basis of your home by the $1,000 paid by the seller.

Enter on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 8a, the home mortgage interest and points reported to you on Form 1098 (discussed next). If you didn't receive a Form 1098, enter your deductible interest on line 8b, and any deductible points on line 8c. See Table 1 for a summary of where to deduct home mortgage interest and state and local real estate taxes.

If you paid $600 or more of mortgage interest (including certain points during the year on any one mortgage to a mortgage holder in the course of that holder's trade or business, you should receive a Form 1098 or similar statement from the mortgage holder. The statement will show the total interest paid on your mortgage during the year. If you bought a main home during the year, it will also show the deductible points you paid and any points you can deduct that were paid by the person who sold you your home. See Points, earlier.

You bought a new home on May 3. You paid no points on the purchase. During the year, you made mortgage payments that included $4,480 deductible interest on your new home. The settlement sheet for the purchase of the home included interest of $620 for 29 days in May. The mortgage statement you receive from the lender includes total interest of $5,100 ($4,480 + $620). You can deduct the $5,100 if you itemize your deductions.

If you receive a refund of mortgage interest you overpaid in a prior year, you will generally receive a Form 1098 showing the refund in box 4. Generally, you must include the refund in income in the year you receive it. See Refund of home mortgage interest, earlier, under Home Mortgage Interest.

The total amount you can treat as home acquisition debt at any time on your home cannot be more than $1 million ($500,000 if married filing separately). However, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026, there is a further limitation. If you purchased your home during this time, the total amount you can treat as home acquisition debt at any time on your home generally cannot be more than $750,000 ($375,000 if married filing separately).

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. 041b061a72