4 ms·

I thought this thread was about utility bills, but okay, I’ll play along with your incredibly specific example. Is this a weird american thing? At least here i

by rosndo 5y ago

I thought this thread was about utility bills, but okay, I’ll play along with your incredibly specific example. Is this a weird american thing? At least here in the UK mortgage interest deductions are only applicable to businesses.

justin66 5y ago
> I thought this thread was about utility bills It was, which is why your comment starting with "As a business" was so bizarrely off-topic. > Is this a weird american thing? At least here in the UK mortgage interest deductions are only applicable to businesses. Yes. American homeowners can under most circumstances treat their mortage interest payments as tax deductable.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- rosndo 5y ago
  > It was, which is why your comment starting with "As a business" was so bizarrely off-topic. What do you mean by off-topic? Businesses receive utility bills too, and might genuinely be required to keep records of those. As far as I can tell, barring some very special circumstances, individuals never need to keep such records.
  - justin66 5y ago
    > As far as I can tell, barring some very special circumstances, individuals never need to keep such records. This is blatantly false. Unless paying taxes is a "very special circumstance." People don't want these records at hand purely for their own amusement, which seems to be the assumption you're operating under here.
    - locooon 5y ago
      In what situation will an individual need to supply their utility bills to the taxman during an audit? > This is blatantly false. Unless paying taxes is a "very special circumstance." I’ve certainly never needed to pull up my utility bills while paying taxes as a private person. It really feels like you’re just coming up with stuff, utility bills aren’t normally tax deductible (unless you are a business). There’s no reason you’d ever need them for the taxman any more than your grocery story receipts.
      - justin66 5y ago
        Wow, you really created an account to make that comment? > In what situation will an individual need to supply their utility bills to the taxman during an audit? The bills would be useful if they expensed some of those payments, deducted them, or whatever. With a record number of people working from home, some portion of those expenses might be tax deductible for some people, some people might receive reimbursements from an employer, etc. (nobody said anything about an audit) > I’ve certainly never needed to pull up my utility bills while paying taxes as a private person. I think we can all agree that if you have never done this, it's unthinkable that anyone would ever do this.
        rosndo 5y ago
        justin66 5y ago
        You would save the records for deductions or business expenses or whatever as a bookkeeping measure - and as a tax precaution, yes - even if you were not expecting an audit. Audits are fairly unusual. (Way, way upthread jacquesm cited tax audits as a reason for these records to be physically provided, but they're a useful and common means of communication when employing a tax preparer or bookkeeper as well. And back to the original point, this is all even more likely to be true of an "old" person.) The cost of saving paper records, for an individual, is fairly close to zero, whereas it's a colossal pain in the butt to track down stuff later. Make that mistake once and you won't do it again.
formerkrogeremp 5y ago
You can deduct home mortgage interest [1]. Another way in which homeownership and to an extent NIMBYism is subsidized in the tax code and by government policies. [1] https://www.irs.gov/publications/p936#:~:text=You%20can%20deduct%20home%20mortgage,incurred%20before%20December%2016%2C%202017 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p936#:~:text=You%20can%20de....
lotsofpulp 5y ago
There is a federal mortgage interest tax deduction, and there may also be a state level deduction depending on the state since they each have different tax laws. On the federal level, 90%+ people do not use the mortgage interest tax deduction because doing so would cost them more than not using it.
kube-system 5y ago
It is an American thing, and it's often more than just mortgage interest, as it is standard to have our property taxes and insurance(s) escrowed through the mortgage as well.

by rosndo 5y ago

justin66 5y ago

> I thought this thread was about utility bills It was, which is why your comment starting with "As a business" was so bizarrely off-topic. > Is this a weird american thing? At least here in the UK mortgage interest deductions are only applicable to businesses. Yes. American homeowners can under most circumstances treat their mortage interest payments as tax deductable.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
rosndo 5y ago
> It was, which is why your comment starting with "As a business" was so bizarrely off-topic. What do you mean by off-topic? Businesses receive utility bills too, and might genuinely be required to keep records of those. As far as I can tell, barring some very special circumstances, individuals never need to keep such records.
- justin66 5y ago
  > As far as I can tell, barring some very special circumstances, individuals never need to keep such records. This is blatantly false. Unless paying taxes is a "very special circumstance." People don't want these records at hand purely for their own amusement, which seems to be the assumption you're operating under here.
  - locooon 5y ago
    In what situation will an individual need to supply their utility bills to the taxman during an audit? > This is blatantly false. Unless paying taxes is a "very special circumstance." I’ve certainly never needed to pull up my utility bills while paying taxes as a private person. It really feels like you’re just coming up with stuff, utility bills aren’t normally tax deductible (unless you are a business). There’s no reason you’d ever need them for the taxman any more than your grocery story receipts.
    - justin66 5y ago
      Wow, you really created an account to make that comment? > In what situation will an individual need to supply their utility bills to the taxman during an audit? The bills would be useful if they expensed some of those payments, deducted them, or whatever. With a record number of people working from home, some portion of those expenses might be tax deductible for some people, some people might receive reimbursements from an employer, etc. (nobody said anything about an audit) > I’ve certainly never needed to pull up my utility bills while paying taxes as a private person. I think we can all agree that if you have never done this, it's unthinkable that anyone would ever do this.
      - rosndo 5y ago
        justin66 5y ago
        You would save the records for deductions or business expenses or whatever as a bookkeeping measure - and as a tax precaution, yes - even if you were not expecting an audit. Audits are fairly unusual. (Way, way upthread jacquesm cited tax audits as a reason for these records to be physically provided, but they're a useful and common means of communication when employing a tax preparer or bookkeeper as well. And back to the original point, this is all even more likely to be true of an "old" person.) The cost of saving paper records, for an individual, is fairly close to zero, whereas it's a colossal pain in the butt to track down stuff later. Make that mistake once and you won't do it again.

formerkrogeremp 5y ago

You can deduct home mortgage interest [1]. Another way in which homeownership and to an extent NIMBYism is subsidized in the tax code and by government policies. [1] https://www.irs.gov/publications/p936#:~:text=You%20can%20deduct%20home%20mortgage,incurred%20before%20December%2016%2C%202017 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p936#:~:text=You%20can%20de....

lotsofpulp 5y ago

There is a federal mortgage interest tax deduction, and there may also be a state level deduction depending on the state since they each have different tax laws. On the federal level, 90%+ people do not use the mortgage interest tax deduction because doing so would cost them more than not using it.

kube-system 5y ago

It is an American thing, and it's often more than just mortgage interest, as it is standard to have our property taxes and insurance(s) escrowed through the mortgage as well.