Congress extends 2014 tax breaks for boat owners

WASHINGTON (LOG NEWS SERVICE) — President Obama has signed into law H.R. 5771 (Tax Increase Prevention Act 2014) that retroactively extended over 50 tax provisions including two that affect boaters — the state sales tax and mortgage interest deductions — until Dec. 31, 2014. The legislation, which was introduced by former Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) in December, extended the provisions of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, which has been extended by Congress several times since its original enactment but had expired Dec. 31. It must be renewed by Congress again if the tax deductions are to be available on 2015 federal tax returns. The sales tax provision of the act continues to offer a federal tax deduction for state sales taxes. Boat owners must choose either the state sales tax deduction or state income tax deduction on their federal tax return. A home, according to the IRS, must be a “qualified home” in order to qualify for the mortgage interest deduction. IRS Publication 936 (Home Mortgage Interest Deduction for Use in Preparing 2014 Returns) includes the following definition of a qualified home: “Qualified Home. For you to take a home mortgage interest deduction, your debt must be secured by a qualified home....