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"It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf."

Walter Lippmann








 




 
Featured Finance Articles

Instant Loans Cash- Keeps Finance in Order Till the Next Financial Replenishment.
There is a tendency among people to keep their resources in a form that is not easily cash convertible. The arrangement holds good till the individual is faced with an exigency involving cash. This is the time when the individual is led into a tight spot; ...

Refinance Mortgage or Not?
Is a refinance mortgage the right thing for you? This is a difficult topic to figure out for the average person. There are several things to consider in order to make the decision about whether or not you should get a refinance mortgage. Here are some ...

Things I Learned When I Refinanced My Home
Some days I feel like a home refinancing expert. I've refinanced my home twice in the last three years to take advantage of attractive interest rates. Although interest rates have been rising lately, refinancing may still be an attractive option if you're ...




Deducting Points On Home Refinances
 
Any points that you pay in the refinancing of your residence are tax deductible over the length of the loan in question. The deduction is allowable only if the residence is your primary home and the new mortgage replaces a previous one and/or is used to improve the residence. To the extent that money is taken out to pay off credit cards and non-residence costs, the points may not be used as a tax deduction.

Big Deductions By Refinancing Twice

If you refinanced your primary residence twice during 2004, you may be in for a very nice surprise. A significant tax deduction can be created when you refinance twice in one year. If you refinance a mortgage, you accelerate the deductible amount of points from the first mortgage and may claim the points from the first mortgage all at once.

As an example, assume that I refinanced my home in January 2004 and paid $3,000 in points. Interest rates continued to drop through 2004 and I then decided to refinance again in August. Because I paid off the original loan with the refinance, I am able to accelerate the value of the points of the January loan.

So, what tax deductions have I created for my 2004 filing period? Initially, I am going to deduct a percentage of the points off of my latest refinance. The deduction will amount to the total amount of points paid divided by the total months of the loan. This will not be a big deduction, but every little bit helps.

In addition to this amount, however, I will also deduct the full $3,000 in points that I paid on my January 2004 refinance! I am able to claim this deduction because I "accelerated" the deductibility of the points by paying of January mortgage with the August refinance.

By refinancing twice, I get a lower interest rate and a healthy tax deduction. Ah, the value of owning a home.


About the Author
Richard Chapo is CEO of Business Tax Recovery - Obtaining tax refunds for small businesses by finding
overlooked tax deductions and credits through a free tax return review.



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Greek PM sacks finance minister in reshuffle (Reuters via Yahoo!Xtra News)
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