Mortgage interest deduction...?

Question

I received a refund for my 2007 taxes of $9,138. I had mortgage interest of $6,500. If I hadn't had that interest to deduct, how do i find out how much my refund would have been??? thanks.

Answer 1

Not quite enough information here to give you a good answer so I will tell you how to figure it out for yourself.  

On the second page of the Income Tax Return, Form 1040 on the let side you will see a list of Filing Status and and the amounts to put on the line for each.  There is an amount for Single, Married Filing Joint, Married Filing Seperate and Head of Household.  Put the number that applies to you on that line and complet the form down to the tax line.  You can find the tax for that income either in the booklet sent to you by the IRS or on the IRS web site, www.irs.gov, in Publication 17.

Answer 2

If you were in the 30% tax bracket, you saved 30% of $6,500.  IF you had been a renter, you would have paid that much more.

Answer 3

I realize you may not know what bracket you are in and so forth, but believe it or not, we need a lot more information to answer your question accurately.  Basically, we need to see your entire tax return.  There are so many factors that go into determining your tax liability and refund, you can't believe it.  Even if we knew your tax bracket, we would still only be guessing how much less refund you would have gotten.  For example, the first answerer assumed that your schedule A deduction was at least $6,500 more than your standard deduction, and that none of your credits were limited by your tax liability.  Besides, there is no 30% tax bracket.

If you did your tax return using software you purchased in a store like Tax Cut or Turbo Tax, simply open it back up, change your $6,500 to $0, and have it recalculate your refund.

If you had your taxes done at a tax place like H&R Block, you could go back to the store (or the district office if your store is closed for the season) and ask someone there to do the calcualtion for you.  They aren't too busy this time of year and won't charge you...but be sure to ask first since there are some people who will charge for everything.  Basically, they are glad you stopped in and something simple like this is an easy task for them.  But before you go, look at the printout they gave you.  Often, there is a page that says, "You saved $x*x in taxes because we deducted home mortgage interest for you."

Sidebar: I agree with Boston.  Why wait until April to get $10,000 when you could have been getting that all year in your paycheck?  Are you that rich that you can live without $190 each week?  Wouldn't you rather have that $190 each week to pay bills?  If you have any credit card debt or non-home debt at all, you are better off getting that money every week and paying down your debt rather than letting the gov't hold your money all year.

Answer 4

Without knowing your bracket, no way to say for sure.  If you were in a 15% bracket, the mortgage interest probably increased your refund by about $975.  For 10% bracket, $650.  For 25% bracket, $1625.

If you are getting that big of a refund, you are lending your money all year to the government at no interest, and could have a bigger paycheck every week by adjusting your W-4 to claim several more allowances than you claim now, and still get a refund.

Answer 5

It's not possible to say without seeing your tax return.  It could be anything from nearly no difference at all to as much as $2,275 less.

As a side bar, you are paying WAY too much taxes during the year if you are getting that large of a refund.  You are loaning the government nearly $200 every WEEK interest free.  You should change your withholdings substantially, probably by as much as 10 or more additional withholding allowances on your W-4.  Getting that much money back at the end of the year is TERRIBLE financial planning on your part.

Answer 6

So...got get a 1040EZ, plug in your income, deduct the standard amount and look up the tax.  Then compare the tax on the 1040EZ with the tax on the form 1040 and you'll see the difference it made.

For a single person, the standard deduction was $5350.  If you had only interest to deduct (the schedule A also has property taxes), you reduced your taxable income by $1150.  At 15%, that reduced your taxes by  a whopping $173.