145k views
0 votes
Amanda purchased a home for $1,000,000 in 2002 She paid $200,000 cash and borrowed the remaining $800,000. This is Amanda's only residence. Assume that in 2015 when the home had appreciated to $1,500,000 and the remaining mortgage was $600,000, interest rates declined and Amanda refinanced her home. She borrowed $1,000,000 at the time of the refinancing. What is her total amount of qualifying home-related debt for tax purposes?

A. $600,000
B. $700,000
C. $1,000,000
D. $1,100,000

1 Answer

0 votes

Final answer:

Amanda's qualifying home-related debt for tax purposes, assuming no additional borrowings for home improvement, would be the sum of her home acquisition debt at refinance ($600,000) and the allowed home equity debt ($100,000), totalling $700,000.

Step-by-step explanation:

The total amount of qualifying home-related debt for tax purposes that Amanda can have after refinancing is limited by tax regulations. In general, the IRS allows interest deductions on up to $1 million of home acquisition debt and up to $100,000 of home equity debt for a total of $1.1 million of qualified indebtedness for taxpayers who are married filing jointly; these rules may vary based on the period and specific situation.

In Amanda's case, she originally borrowed $800,000 and then took out a new mortgage of $1,000,000. The home acquisition debt that qualifies would be the balance of her old mortgage at the time of refinancing, which is $600,000, plus any additional amounts borrowed for home improvement or acquisition. If she refinanced only to take advantage of lower rates without borrowing additional funds for improvement, her home acquisition debt qualifying for interest deduction remains at $600,000.

Additionally, part of her new loan could qualify as home equity debt. However, since we are not provided with specifics about whether the refinance included money for home improvements, only the $100,000 portion above the initial acquisition debt may qualify, assuming it follows IRS rules regarding equity debt. Consequently, without more details about how the refinanced amount was used, we can only safely assume the qualifying debt is her original debt amount plus the allowed home equity debt, totaling $700,000.

User Allen Bargi
by
6.9k points