Tax Queestion

[tek610]

Hi y'all!

When we purchased our TT last week, the finance guy said we could write off the loan interest as if it were a home. He said an RV is, in fact, considered (for taxation) a second home.

Is that true? And if so, can we write off improvements?

Not a super big deal, and it won't come up until next year anyway. Just curious.

Thanks-

John

[Merlin]

Here's the IRS form that covers the issue. The definition of Qualified Home is on page 4 and includes certain trailers. Not being a CPA, I'm not going to offer tax advice. 

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p936.pdf

[tek610]

Thanks for the link, Merlin.

Page 4 says "A home includes a house, condominium, cooperative, mobile home, house trailer, boat, or similar property that has sleeping,
cooking, and toilet facilities."

I'll research a bit more, but heck- that sounds like a yes to me!

[pjcd]

Yeah, I have heard that one before, but never from a sales rep, according to my CPA, he said not to bother, in an audit it wouldn't fly.

That being said, you can try to deduct anything you want, wether its can stand up to the scrutiny of an IRS audit is another story.

[mojospeople]

Hopefully a CPA or someone will chime in here but my understanding was that yes, you can deduct the MORTGAGE interest of an RV loan. The key being you must finance it with a mortgage. If you finance it with a vehicle loan like we did, then I didn't think you could deduct the interest. I could be completely wrong on this - hope I am - but that's how I understood it to work when looking into it a couple years ago.

[djsamuel]

I've been deducting the interest on my 21BHS since we bought it in 2013. I even get the tax form for the loan. Not a huge difference, but it's something.

[Paul]

In Canada we can't deduct mortgage for a house or an RV on our tax

[thudd3r]

tax programs will even tell you that you can deduct it

right from this years turbotax...

A camper or Recreational Vehicle (RV) meets the IRS definition of a second home if it contains sleeping, bathroom and kitchen facilities.  Interest paid on a loan for the purchase of a recreational vehicle is therefore tax deductible as valid home interest on a second home.

For confirmation, please refer to IRS Publication 936, Page 4, left column, first paragraph, under the heading Qualified Home, here:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p936.pdf

if it meets the definition (which it does) and you get a 1098 (or similar) for it...you can deduct it.  can probably even deduct it if you dont get a 1098, but it is justa bit more of a pain