New Tax Law - What it Means to You

Ok, we are not CPA's but .  . . . .  we thought it was important to pass on this important information as it relates to being a homeowner in Illinois.

Last week President Trump signed into law the new tax bill.  By all appearances the law will provide some sort of savings to all tax payers.  The final details are not clear yet, but these bullet points are some of the issues worth mentioning.

1. The Capital Gains Exemption, as it relates to selling your primary residence, will remain as is.  Both the House and Senate tax bills had originally proposed increasing the length of time a homeowner would need to live in primary residence (from five out of eight years versus the current requirement to live in a primary residence only two out of five years to qualify for the Section 121 tax exclusion.) Thankfully, this proposed change did not become a part of the 2018 tax law.

 What did change (and you may not like it!) 

2.  Any home mortgage interest debt incurred before December 15, 2017, will continue to be eligible for the home mortgage interest deduction up to $1,000,000. Any home mortgage interest debt incurred after Dec 15, 2017 will be limited to no more than $750.000 qualifying for the home mortgage interest deduction.

3.  Beginning in 2018, the deduction for interest paid on a home equity line of credit (“HELOC”) will no longer be eligible for the home mortgage interest deduction unless your using it to acquire a second home. .

4. This one's not going to be popular with Illinois home owners: Beginning next year there will be a $10,000 deduction LIMIT on all of your state and local taxes (ouch).  It may make sense for you to prepay the first installment of the 2017 property taxes.  Having an escrow account, for taxes and insurance, with your lender may complicate this process, but having a conversation with them before you decide to pre-pay is advised.

5. Investment property owners will continue to be able to defer capital gain taxes using 1031 tax-deferred exchanges which have been in the tax code since 1921.

We recommend discussing your particular situation with your tax preparer to see how the new law will affect you.