Mortgage interest and real estate taxes are tax deductible and any one with a mortgage can enjoy this tax benefit.

Taxes can be complicated, and it is recommended that you learn about the benefits, the drawbacks and how to file your taxes properly. To enjoy the tax benefits, you can either wait for a big payout after you file your income-tax return, or adjust what is withheld from your paycheck each month.

During the early years of the home mortgage, most of your monthly repayments go towards your interest, with little payment towards the capital. Tax benefits are therefore very useful for first-time home buyers, especially during the early years of acquiring the mortgage.

As you pay more on the amortized home mortgage over a longer time frame, more of each monthly payment goes towards paying the principle, and less towards interest. This means that with time, you lose some of your interest write-off as your equity in the property increases.

It is important for you to note that you can take these tax deductions if you change from standard deduction, which all tax payers are entitled to, to itemized deductions. In the case where your itemize deductions, including home mortgage interest and property taxes, do not exceed the standard deduction amount, it is better for you to take standard deduction.

The following three components of your home mortgage are tax deductible:

1. Interest on your home mortgage

2. Property taxes

3. Loan points for a purchase mortgage fully deductible in the year that they are paid. It is noteworthy that in refinance, the points are written off in increments over the term of a home mortgage.

What five components of your home mortgage or home ownership related costs are not tax deductible?

1. Expenses relating to home improvement

2. Insurance

3. Loan application fees, home inspections

4. Real estate commission paid to real estate or mortgage loan brokers

5. Homeowner and co-op dues and costs relating to home inspections and appraisals, and home loan application fees

Some penalties on a home mortgage can be incurred from IRAs. You are not able to use a conventional IRA account or 401-K plan for a down payment without paying high penalties and taxes on the gains that accrued while the money was in your saving plan. Nonetheless, if you are saving to become a first-time home buyer, it is recommended that you consider a Roth IRA. Roth IRA was created by The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 and it allows penalty-free withdrawals for first-time home buyers. It is recommended that you know all the fine details of Roth IRA before you use it for a home mortgage down payment.

What are the two key factors to consider with deductions?

1. It is important that you convert your existing IRA cautiously. Under the tax law, if your adjusted gross income is les than $100,000, then you can convert your existing individual retirement account into a Roth IRA if your. One must wait 5 years to qualify for a Roth IRA, and a distribution must be made five taxable years after the first contribution to the account was made.

2. Contributions to a Roth IRA are not deductible, but no taxes are paid on qualified distributions. So one can deduct income but not contributions. A limit on the contribution of up to $4,000 a year can be contributed to an account, but only by single tax-filers with adjusted gross income of less than $95,000 and joint-filers with a combined income of less than $150,000.

A home mortgage has several tax benefits which you can enjoy if you get a mortgage and own a home.