J.K. Lasser's Homeowner's Tax Breaks: Your Complete Guide to Finding Hidden Gold in Your Home

By Gerald J. Robinson

There's Tax Money Hidden in Your Home, and This Book Will Show You Where to Find It! Legitimate tax strategies any homeowner can use to save on taxes Written by a down-to-earth tax expert-so you can easily understand the tax tips presented Beyond the garden-variety deductions for mortgage interest and real estate taxes, J.K. Lasser's™ Homeowner's Tax Breaks reveals a treasure chest of tax breaks that any homeowner can use. These include such little-known breaks as getting tax-free rent from a short-term home rental, using the generous $250,000/$500,000 home sale exclusion to shelter gain from the sale of other real estate, and pocketing tax-free mortgage proceeds when trading up to a more expensive home. J.K. Lasser's™ Homeowner's Tax Breaks provides a lively, concise, and plain-English explanation of tax rules for homeowners and a discussion of how these rules can be turned to your tax advantage and financial benefit. Critical coverage will show you how to: Make your credit card and car loan interest deductible Boost the amount of your casualty loss deductions Get deductions for household expenses when you have a home office Write off home office equipment such as computers and printers Make commuting costs from home deductible Create tax-free income from renovating your home and selling it at a profit Make your home a retirement nest egg that generates tax-free income from trading down or a reverse mortgage J.K. Lasser-Practical Guides for All Your Financial Needs

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471444332
• ISBN13: 9780471444336
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.4" x 0.7" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

It's As Good As Money in the Bank

As a CPA and former teacher of accounting at the graduate school level, I can tell you that if you own or are selling real estate, Gerald Robinson's new book is almost as good as winning the lottery. In fact, the odds of realizing a big pay-off from this book are much better than the odds of hitting the lottery. While books on taxation can be among the most boring ever written, Mr. Robinson avoids that trap. He writes in plain english, explaining complex strategies at a level almost everyone can understand. For example, if you are selling your primary residence that you've owned for many years, or you've moved to more expensive homes a number of times during your working career, this is as good as discovering an unexpected bonanza in your bank account. The three strategies for avoiding capital gains tax when yous sell a residence and realize a gain of more than $500,000 (it is far more common than you think, and comes as a shock to many sellers) are unknown to most people, including some tax accountants. This one chapter is worth the cost of the book many times over. The book is clearly written, is well organized, and I highly recommend it. The reader will feel much more confident the next time he/she is a party to a real estate transaction, including the renting of vacation property.

A Friend Indeed

Having recently sold a vacation house on Martha's Vineyard, it was fortutious to find a copy of Gerald Robinson's new book "Homeowner's Tax Breaks" at my local Borders.Well writen, clearly writen and, best of all, superbly organized, Robinson's book covers all the bases of the complex game of home ownership. Were that most books of this type provided as much useful advise for passage through the dense U.S. tax codes that apply to buying and selling of one's home.