For mortgages taken out after December 15, 2017, homeowners can deduct interest on up to $750,000 of mortgage debt ($375,000 for married filing separately). For loans taken out before this date, the limit is higher at $1 million ($500,000 for married filing separately). This deduction requires itemizing on tax returns.
You can deduct up to ₹2 lakh in taxes from your annual home loan interest payments under Section 24(b) of the Income Tax Act. Additionally you can claim up to ₹1.5 lakh, per year in repayments under Section 80C.
Mortgage amount
Taxpayers can deduct the interest paid on qualified residences for up to $750,000 in total mortgage debt (the limit is $375,000 if married and filing separately). Any interest paid on first, second or home equity mortgages over this amount is not tax-deductible.
The $250,000/$500,000 home sale tax exclusion allows single filers to exclude up to $250,000 and married couples filing jointly up to $500,000 of profit (capital gains) from selling their main home, provided they owned and lived in it as their primary residence for at least two of the last five years before the sale, without owing capital gains tax on that amount. This significant tax break requires meeting both an ownership test and a use test, and it can generally be used once every two years.
Based on this calculation, to afford a $750,000 house with a 20% down payment and a 30-year mortgage at 7% interest, you would need to earn at least $172,800 per year. However, this is just a rough estimate, and your individual circumstances may vary.
Determine whether you meet the residence requirement.
If you owned the home and used it as your residence for at least 24 months of the previous 5 years, you meet the residence requirement.
The "6-year rule" for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) in Australia allows you to treat a former main residence as tax-exempt for up to six years after you move out, even if you rent it out, enabling you to avoid CGT on any growth during that period. You qualify by moving out, choosing to treat it as your main home for tax, and can reset the rule by moving back in. If you rent it out for longer than six years, only the portion of the gain after the six-year mark becomes taxable.
For 2026, the federal estate and gift tax exemption is set to increase to $15 million per individual, up from $13.99 million in 2025, thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed in 2025, making this higher amount permanent and indexed for inflation. This means a married couple could potentially shield up to $30 million from federal estate and gift taxes, with the top tax rate remaining at 40% for amounts exceeding the exemption.
For 2025, you can generally deduct mortgage interest on up to $750,000 of home acquisition debt ($375,000 if married filing separately), but a higher limit of $1 million ($500,000 MFS) applies to mortgages taken out before December 16, 2017, and you must itemize deductions to claim it. Interest on home equity loans is only deductible if the funds were used to buy, build, or substantially improve your home.
No, mortgage interest isn't always 100% deductible; it's subject to limits and conditions, primarily that the loan must be for buying, building, or improving your main or second home, and you must itemize deductions, with current limits at $750,000 of debt ($375k if married filing separately) for loans after December 15, 2017, while older loans have a $1 million limit, and you can only deduct the interest portion, not principal.
principal repayment Under Section 80C. Under section 80(c) of the Income Tax Act, tax deduction of a maximum amount of up to Rs 1.5 lakh can be availed per financial year on the principal repayment portion of the EMI.
Many experts note that if your total deductions (excluding standard deduction) are under ₹8 lakh, the new regime tends to yield a lower tax liability. If you can stack up large deductions—HRA, 80C, home loan interest, etc. —beyond ₹8 lakh, you may still find the old regime helpful.
To qualify for 0% capital gains tax, you must have long-term capital gains (assets held over a year) and your taxable income (after deductions) must fall below specific IRS thresholds, which change annually but are roughly <$48,350 for single filers and <$96,700 for married filing jointly for the 2025 tax year, allowing for higher total income when combined with deductions like the standard deduction. The key is keeping your adjusted gross income (AGI) low enough so that after subtracting deductions, your taxable income remains within these limits.
On a $100,000 capital gain, you'll likely pay 15% for long-term gains, resulting in about $15,000 in federal tax (plus potential state tax), but it could be 0% or 20% depending on your total taxable income and filing status, while short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income (potentially 22-24%).
When you sell your primary residence, $250,000 of capital gains (or $500,000 for a couple) are exempted from capital gains taxation. This is generally true only if you have owned and used your home as your main residence for at least two out of the five years prior to the sale.
The 2025 tax legislation signed into law by President Trump, commonly referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, largely preserves the existing capital gains tax framework. Long-term capital gains rates remain set at 0%, 15% and 20%, with no changes to the underlying brackets.
The Six-Month Rule
For this exemption to apply, two conditions must be met. First, the property must have been your primary residence for at least three months within the 12 months before selling it. Secondly, you must not have used the property to make assessable income in any way within the 12 months before selling.
Here's what you can expect to pay for both 15- and 30-year mortgage loan payments on a $750,000 loan using today's mortgage rates: 30-year fixed mortgage at 6.15%: $3,655.37 per month. 15-year fixed mortgage at 5.65%: $4,950.39 per month.