3 tax changes that could affect homeowners
As lawmakers work out the details of their tax plans, homeowners could be losing some long-standing deductions.
Republicans in the House and Senate have unveiled their plans to reform the tax code and they're looking to eliminate some tax benefits of buying and selling a house.
Here is a look at some of the potential tax changes in play that could impact homeowners:
1.Capping the mortgage interest deduction
Current tax code allows homeowners to deduct interest on mortgages up to $1 million. House GOP members want to rip the threshold to $500,000 on new mortgages on homes. But their colleagues in the Senate have proposed to leave it unchanged.
The House bill also will eliminate the mortgage interest deduction for second homes.
2.Getting rid of state and local property tax breaks
The Senate's tax plan would get rid of deductions for state and local taxes, including property taxes.
Both proposals could be a serious impact to homeowners in high-tax states like New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and California.
3.Limiting a tax break for home sellers
Many suggested changes would also mean homeowners could get slammed with a bigger tax bill on the sale of their current home.
Current law allows sellers to exclude $250,000, or $500,000 for those filing jointly, from capital gains when selling a home as long as they have lived in it for two out of the past five years.
Both the House and Senate want to increase the live-in time period to five out of the last eight years. The Senate bill allows for some exceptions to the time requirement, like if a seller is leaving due to a change in jobs or health care.
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