cschaller[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

If you hold title to the property even as a half-owner you
are liable for any debt on the property as you risk
forfeiture if the debt is not paid. As such, if you make
the interest payments you may take a tax deduction assuming
that all the other rules regarding qualified mortgage
interest are met.

--
Alan
http://taxtopics.net

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cschaller[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

If you hold title to the property even as a half-owner you
are liable for any debt on the property as you risk
forfeiture if the debt is not paid. As such, if you make
the interest payments you may take a tax deduction assuming
that all the other rules regarding qualified mortgage
interest are met.

--
Alan
http://taxtopics.net

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

- quote -

First, I think your friend hoodwinked you because qualifying
for a mortgage will be as strong as the strongest
participant and most likely stronger because there are more
than one income and asset base.

Second, you only get the deduction if your name is on the
mortgage and incur its risks. The deduction (or capital
gains) does not have to distributed equally.

Third, when any part of a financial arrangement is unequal,
you should write a partnership contract. This mainly to
handle things going wrong like a tax or lawsuit liability,
breakup, lying, death, etc.

Otherwise a defacto partnership is assumed with equal shares
for some aspects and 100% for each particpant for other
aspects.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

<cschaller[at]gmail.com> wrote

- quote -

Your name on the title doesn't make you liable for the loan,
and hence the loan interest.

Having your name on the title may place a liability on you
for the property tax though.

The lender may not be real happy with title changing. Be
sure to discuss this matter with them well before you
violate a loan clause.

--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

The technical answer is that if your name is not on the
loan, you are not obligated to repay it and therefore you
cannot deduct it. However, there's an argument that if your
name is on the title and payments are not made on the loan,
you will lose the house. Therefore, you are allowed to
deduct the payments. I'm sure there is a RevRul somewhere on
this.

Nan. EA in LA

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

cschaller[at]gmail.com writes:

- quote -

You can't.

To deduct it you have to both make the payments and be
legally liable to make the payments. Since you're not on
the mortgage, you flunk the second half of the test and so
cannot deduct the mortgage interest you're paying.

- quote -

That won't work. Putting you on the title doesn't magically
add you to the mortgage, so you would still not be legally
liable to make mortgage payments and so would still be
unable to deduct your payments.

And while not a tax thing, keep in mind that the mortgage
holder may well take a dim view of people being added to
the title and it could trigger them calling the loan.

--
Rich Carreiro rlcarr[at]animato.arlington.ma.us

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Hello-

I've read various information and hope that someone can
tell me if this is true.

I and a friend are buying a house together. I recently
started working for myself in a field that I've been in
for 7 years. The mortgage is in my friend's name since
I don't have enough of an income history with my personal
business.

My question is this, I will be paying half of the mortgage
and I'm trying to figure out how I can get a tax break since
my name is not actually on the mortgage. One person
suggested that my name on the title would enable me to take
a tax deduction for the house. Does anyone know if this is
true and/or does anyone else have any other suggestions?

Thanks!

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >