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Publication 530 - Introductory Material

Table of Contents

What's New for 2011

Hardest Hit Fund and Emergency Homeowners' Loan Programs. If you are a homeowner who received assistance under a State Housing Finance Agency Hardest Hit Fund program or an Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program, you may be able to deduct all of the payments you made on your mortgage during the year. For details, see Hardest Hit Fund and Emergency Homeowners' Loan Programs under What You Can and Cannot Deduct, later.

First-time homebuyer credit. For most people, the first-time homebuyer credit is not available for homes purchased in 2011. However, certain members of the uniformed services and Foreign Service and certain employees of the intelligence community can claim the credit for homes purchased in 2011. For details, see First-Time Homebuyer Credit, later and the Form 5405 instructions.

Future developments. The IRS has created a page on IRS.gov for information about Publication 530, at www.irs.gov/pub530. Information about any future developments affecting Publication 530 (such as legislation enacted after we release it) will be posted on that page.

What's New for 2012

Mortgage insurance premium deduction. The itemized deduction for premiums you pay or accrue for qualified mortgage insurance in connection with home acquisition debt on your qualified home is no longer available after 2011.

Reminders

Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). If you benefit from Pay-for-Performance Success Payments, the payments are not taxable under HAMP.

Mortgage debt forgiveness. You can exclude from gross income any discharges of qualified principal residence indebtedness made after 2006 and before 2013. You must reduce the basis of your principal residence (but not below zero) by the amount you exclude. See Discharges of qualified principal residence indebtedness, later, and Form 982, Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness (and Section 1082 Basis Adjustment), for more information.

Repayment of first-time homebuyer credit. You generally must repay any credit you claimed for a home you bought if you disposed of the home or it ceased to be your main home in 2011. If you bought the home in 2008 and you owned and used it as your main home for all of 2011, you generally must continue repaying the credit with your 2011 tax return, but you do not have to attach Form 5405. See Form 5405 and its instructions for details and for exceptions to the repayment rule.

Photographs of missing children. The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Photographs of missing children selected by the Center may appear in this publication on pages that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children home by looking at the photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.

Introduction

This publication provides tax information for homeowners. Your home may be a house, condominium, cooperative apartment, mobile home, houseboat, or house trailer that contains sleeping space and toilet and cooking facilities.

The following topics are explained.

  • How you treat items such as settlement and closing costs, real estate taxes, sales taxes, home mortgage interest, and repairs.

  • What you can and cannot deduct on your tax return.

  • The first-time homebuyer credit.

  • The tax credit you can claim if you received a mortgage credit certificate when you bought your home.

  • Why you should keep track of adjustments to the basis of your home. (Your home's basis generally is what it cost; adjustments include the cost of any improvements you might make.)

  • What records you should keep as proof of the basis and adjusted basis.

Comments and suggestions.   We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future editions.

  You can write to us at the following address:

Internal Revenue Service 
Individual Forms and Publications Branch 
SE:W:CAR:MP:T:I 
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526 
Washington, DC 20224

  We respond to many letters by telephone. Therefore, it would be helpful if you would include your daytime phone number, including the area code, in your correspondence.

  You can email us at taxforms@irs.gov. Please put “Publications Comment” on the subject line. You can also send us comments from www.irs.gov/formspubs/. Select “Comment on Tax Forms and Publications” under “Information about.”

  Although we cannot respond individually to each comment received, we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our tax products.

Ordering forms and publications.   Visit www.irs.gov/formspubs/ to download forms and publications, call 1-800-829-3676, or write to the address below and receive a response within 10 days after your request is received.

Internal Revenue Service 
1201 N. Mitsubishi Motorway 
Bloomington, IL 61705-6613

Tax questions.   If you have a tax question, check the information available on IRS.gov or call 1-800-829-1040. We cannot answer tax questions sent to either of the above addresses.

Useful Items - You may want to see:

Publication

  • 523 Selling Your Home

  • 527 Residential Rental Property

  • 547 Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts

  • 551 Basis of Assets

  • 555 Community Property

  • 587 Business Use of Your Home

  • 936 Home Mortgage Interest Deduction

Form (and Instructions)

  • 5405 First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit

  • 8396 Mortgage Interest Credit

See How To Get Tax Help, near the end of this publication, for information about getting publications and forms.

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