If you stay in it at least 14 nights during the year, and it has kitchen and bath facilities you can deduct the mortgage interest just like a second home. At least that was the case when we bough ours in 2008.

According to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), staying at a campground has nothing to do whether or not you can deduct the interest on both your a 2nd residence, including an RV. You simply have "to use the RV for personal purposes for either more than 14 days or ..." Read the below citations from the IRC:

"Under IRC section 163 (h)(2) a taxpayer may deduct any qualified interest on a qualified residence, which is defined as a principal residence and one other residence owned by the taxpayer for the purpose of deductibility for the tax year. IRC section 163(h)(3) defines qualified residence interest as any interest which is paid or accrued during the tax year on acquisition or home equity indebtedness with respect to any qualified residence of the taxpayer."

"In accordance with IRC section 163(h)(4), an RV will be considered a qualified residence if it is one of the two residences chosen by the taxpayer for purposes of deductibility in the tax year as long as it provides basic living accommodations such as sleeping space, a toilet, and cooking facilities. If the RV is chartered out, the taxpayer will have to use the RV for personal purposes for either more than 14 days or 10% of the number of days during the year the RV was actually rented, in accordance with IRC section 280A(d)(1)."



-- Edited by Jake62 on Thursday 27th of January 2011 08:07:33 AM

Use Turbo Tax.  It's very thorough and a lot cheaper!

Jake62 wrote:

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wmalefyt wrote:

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Use Turbo Tax.  It's very thorough and a lot cheaper!

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I second using Turbo Tax ... very easy and probably only $50 to file both Fed & State.  Look for discounts for Turbo Tax thru your bank or investment firm.  For example, if you're a member of USAA, you get a 25% discount off the retail price.  It's FREE to simply try it and see if you like it.  You don't pay a dime until you file.

 

 

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I'm going to be the semi-naysayer here.

While I will use Turbo tax for my federal it cannot handle my state return.  If you have to file non resident returns it will choke on them forcing you to either over-ride it or just do it by hand.

The more complex your return the less likely Turbo tax will do it correctly.

(Before I get flamed I'll disclose that I've been a paid preparer off and on since 1979)

Mallo

 

-- Edited by Mallo on Friday 4th of February 2011 10:13:43 AM

Just a follow-up regarding utilizing Paid Tax Preparers (PTP). While I agree with Mallo & Leslie, I agree only to a certain point. If your taxes are fairly straight forward, i.e., using the 1040ez form or even the 1040 with "normal" deductions & credits such as mortgage interest, property taxes, charitable contributions and, your employer furnishes you a W-2, then these are fairly straight forward and Turbo Tax does an outstanding job. I've even used Turbo Tax when I've had K-1 income, Stock Income with calculating "cost basis", and it did a great job. I also compared tax returns between Turbo & using a PTP (my mother-in-law) and at least in my situation, I received the same tax refund or owed the same amount of money. Again, this is only my specific situation which I'm addressing.

However, if you own your own business (my in-laws have their own farm in Kansas and my brother-in-law is heavily invested in the banking sector) you may want to use a PTP, even though Turbo has "Home & Business" or "Business". I simply can't speak to those since I've never owned my own business. If you use the "Easy Guide" in Turbo Tax, it certainly takes you thru every tax situation you may encounter when your tax situation is described as above. If you're going to use a PTP, at least put all your tax information Turbo Tax and see what it tells you in the end. It's FREE before you actually file. Then, if you're still uncomfortable or feel you're missing something, go to a PTP, give them all the same information you put into Turbo Tax, and see if you come out ahead ... including the extra cost to pay the PTP over the $50 charge for Turbo Tax.

Happy Tax Season to All!

We have used Tax Cut software by H&R Block for years. It is generally $10-15$ less than Turbo Tax. They also now have on line versions that are even less. We purchased the download deluxe version for $24 this year. You might want to check out the H&R Block web site and compare.