Is this the 1st tax ? thread?

[Boost-n-Juice]

Can I write off home improvements? like finshing the basement?

 

also, when you trade in a car on a new one and flip the negative into the new loan, do you pay tax on that amount? Or, just on the price of the new vehicle?

[Tractor]

I'm not sure about home improvements, but I do know that in ohio you are not supposed to be charged tax for the value of the car you traded in. That amount should have been removed from the taxable amount at the time of the sale.

 

Evan

[wnaplay1647545503]

I think they stopped the home improvement write off years ago, unless they were medical forced improvements or you use the property to profit. ie... your the landlord.

But I could be wrong.

[ZYUL8TR]

You may only write-off improvements if you sell your house. They go against your capital gain tax.

 

If you purchased a car this year, you can deduct the sales tax on the purchase. http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=133209,00.html

[MrMeanGreen]

It says you have the option of itemizing local and state sales as as opposed to local and state income tax, but only for 2004 and 2005.

[Boost-n-Juice]

Yeah, it does nothing for me. I spent $39000 on new cars last year and the taxes paid was a little over $3600, but i paid well over that in state/local income tax. So it's either or, not in addition to. Damn Gov't, makes no sense to me!

[Guest powers]

You may only write-off improvements if you sell your house. They go against your capital gain tax.

 

If you purchased a car this year, you can deduct the sales tax on the purchase. http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=133209,00.html

capital gains does not come into pay on owner occupied homes.

[ZYUL8TR]

It says you have the option of itemizing local and state sales as as opposed to local and state income tax, but only for 2004 and 2005.

 

True. You only get one or the other.

[ZYUL8TR]

Yeah, it does nothing for me. I spent $39000 on new cars last year and the taxes paid was a little over $3600, but i paid well over that in state/local income tax. So it's either or, not in addition to. Damn Gov't, makes no sense to me!

 

Depends on if you itemize, or not. You get to use the greater of the standard or itemized deduction.

 

You may also be able to use part of your mortgage payment, as an itemized deduction, if you take your work home with you.

[ZYUL8TR]

capital gains does not come into pay on owner occupied homes.

 

WRONG Greggy! A Capital Gains Tax is the tax on the appreciation of the sale of ANY asset, including owner-occupied homes. It is based on your personal income tax bracket. There are short term (asset held less than a year) and long term (asset held longer than a year) Capital Gains Taxes.

 

Married couples get a $500K one-time exemption if they lived in the house for two out of the last 5 years (singles for 250k).

 

Other exemptions from this tax come into play if you lose your job and file for unemployment, or change jobs and your new employer is more than 50 miles away from your previous job.

[Sully]

I believe Greg was saying the same thing as you, he just didn't go into the detail. What he was saying is that you can't write off home improvements while you are living in the house (owner occupied).

[Guest powers]

Glenn please read up on this subject before offering your advice. I am very aware of the tax laws reguarding real estate.

 

http://www.taxanalysts.com/www/econpers.nsf/0/f9766709174de384852566da006d2b9c?OpenDocument

 

You only need to be in the home 2 years non continuous. That is what makes the home owner ocupied in the IRS's eyes. The 500K is a limit that you can claim every 2 years. Any gain made in the tax year is regular taxable income.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/class/marketplace/homevaluesspring04/articles/0307VHV-tax07.html

 

 

For al intensive purposes not many people here are going to sell their home for more than 500K. Less than 12 months is not capital gains more than 2 years they pay no capital gains. So again. In this thread, without going into detail if it is owner occupied you do not need to worry about capital gains.

 

Besides people talk like capital gains is such a bad thing. It is far better than the normal income tax people pay every year.

 

Sully, In the tax act of 86 you could use the cost of the imporvements to reduce the capital gains paid on the house. In 97 when the tax law was changed to what it is today since most people will not have to pay capital gains they eliminated that as an option because it don;t even have to pay tax on the money 99% of the time.

 

Glenn please learn how to offer advice to people on the net. There may be someone reading this who wants to move now you having them thinking that they are going to get taxed on this and that. It may be corrected by someone later in the thread but that person may never come back to read that.

[JCBCPA]

Glenn please read up on this subject before offering your advice. I am very aware of the tax laws reguarding real estate.

 

http://www.taxanalysts.com/www/econpers.nsf/0/f9766709174de384852566da006d2b9c?OpenDocument

 

You only need to be in the home 2 years non continuous. That is what makes the home owner ocupied in the IRS's eyes. The 500K is a limit that you can claim every 2 years. Any gain made in the tax year is regular taxable income.

 

http://www.azcentral.com/class/marketplace/homevaluesspring04/articles/0307VHV-tax07.html

 

 

For al intensive purposes not many people here are going to sell their home for more than 500K. Less than 12 months is not capital gains more than 2 years they pay no capital gains. So again. In this thread, without going into detail if it is owner occupied you do not need to worry about capital gains.

 

Besides people talk like capital gains is such a bad thing. It is far better than the normal income tax people pay every year.

 

Sully, In the tax act of 86 you could use the cost of the imporvements to reduce the capital gains paid on the house. In 97 when the tax law was changed to what it is today since most people will not have to pay capital gains they eliminated that as an option because it don;t even have to pay tax on the money 99% of the time.

 

Glenn please learn how to offer advice to people on the net. There may be someone reading this who wants to move now you having them thinking that they are going to get taxed on this and that. It may be corrected by someone later in the thread but that person may never come back to read that.

 

Good Advice Greg! :thumbup: