Could a Yacht Be Considered Your Second Home?
They say that a home is where the heart is. However, when it comes to a second home, it can be where your heart is, or just about anywhere else, as far as the IRS is concerned. In fact, not only can a second home be just about anywhere, it can actually be just about any structure, including a yacht or even a sailboat.
That’s right, boats typically count as a second home in the IRS’s book for figuring tax breaks, as long as the boat has cooking, sleeping and toilet amenities. According to the IRS, when it comes to your federal income tax, home mortgage interest is any interest you pay on a loan that is secured by your home. If you itemize your deductions and you own a qualified home with a mortgage you can deduct the interest from that mortgage.
Likewise, for your federal income taxes, you can also deduct taxes on personal property based on the value of that personal property, including any taxes due on a boat. However, you must be using your yacht or other boat for personal use. You don’t even have to stay in the boat or second home anytime during the year in order to claim real estate, property and interest taxes as deductions.
So if you’re considering buying a yacht or you already have one, then make sure you are fully maximizing the tax breaks that could come with it. If you want to make sure you are taking advantage of every tax break possible, then contact GROCO today for help. Just call 1-877-CPA-2006.
Behavioral Finance: Beyond Greed and Fear
Behavioral Finance: Beyond Greed and Fear “Modern portfolio theory,” a complex mathematical system explaining the workings of the financial markets, has been quite influential on the thinking of investment managers over the last quarter century. The theory derives from the work of a handful of finance professors, several of whom were awarded Nobel Prizes for…
California Billionaires
California Billionaires March 10, 2006 Recent reports show that there are at least 100 new billionaires in the world this year, adding to the ever expanding list. Many billionaires reside in California, and are displayed below. Listings include rank, name, age where known, wealth in billions of dollars and source of the money. A number…
Mandatory e-pay for CA Taxpayers with +$80K of Tax Per Year
Mandatory e-pay for CA Taxpayers with +$80K of Tax Per Year Update: 11/10/09: The FTB now has a pay-by-phone option available. See: http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/mandatory_epay/paybyphone.shtml That Franchise Tax Board (FTB) has begun mailing notices (FTB 4106 MEO) to taxpayers who meet the mandatory e-pay threshold. The new mandatory e-pay law requires taxpayers to remit their payments electronically…
Retire Your Mortgage Before You Retire
Retire Your Mortgage Before You Retire By George L. Duarte, MBA, CMC Broker, Horizon Financial Associates An increasing number of baby-boomer homeowners seem to be resigning themselves to the fact that, unlike their parents, they will be making mortgage payments well into retirement. If you look at statistics, you can see where this anxiety comes…