Zillow Advice: Investing - Stimulus Plan "real " numbers?

For exact advice, talk to ...

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:26:00 GMT

For exact advice, talk to a certified tax preparer. For general purposes, your question has two questions. For the 15k, it is a credit, which means, say you make 100k and your taxes owed (tax liability) were 15k, you would owe nothing. Thats assuming nothing was withheld throughout the year. If you had 15k withheld and your tax liability was 15k, instead of getting nothing and owing nothing, you would get the 15k back as a refund.

mortgage interest is a deduction which affects adjusted gross income, which is your income after reductions allowed for dependents, chairatable contributions, mortgage interest, etc. If you have a 14k mortgage interest deduction, and you were in the 30% tax bracket, your taxes would be reduced by 30% of the 14k.

mortgage interest is tax deductible-you save a percentage of it=good

a tax credit is dollar for dollar=best

Any answer to any question ...

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:47:00 GMT

Any answer to any question on the $15,000 tax credit should include a big giant disclaimer -- the tax credit isn't law yet.

The language in the Stimulus bill could be changed before it passes the Senate, and it could be changed again in the conference committee that will reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions.

As it is currently written, you can get a credit UP TO $15,000, which can be split evenly between two years. However, it may be limited by how much tax you pay. If for example you owe $4,000 in taxes, you can't take a $15,000 credit and expect an $11,000 refund. In this example, you could take a credit of $4,000 and in effect have a tax bill of $0. Then, you could take another $4000 take credit next year.

if you paid 30k in taxes, ...

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:18:00 GMT

if you paid 30k in taxes, yes you get 15k back at tax time

if you paid 7.5k in taxes you can take 7.5k two years in a row
if you paid 5k in taxes, you can take 5k back 2 years in a row.(note NOT 3 years in a row)

With mortgage interest is ...

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:18:00 GMT

With mortgage interest is it part of itemized deductions (goes in Schedule A), so, if over the course of the year you pay $10,000 in interest you would deduct that from your income (as allowable by the rules). www.irs.gov has a publication on the subject.

so if we usually get something ...

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:39:00 GMT

so if we usually get something back from the Feds...this would basically...mean 15K back at tax time?

A tax credit means you can ...

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:36:00 GMT

A tax credit means you can deduct that amount from the taxes you owe. This differs from a tax deduction which means you can subtract the amount of the deduction from your income, on which taxes are paid.