My Taxes are Done

Another successful bout with Quicken and Turbotax, and my Federal and State Taxes are completed for another year.
With the government at every level hungry for more tax dollars, our Real Estate lobby is fighting to hold the line on the home mortgage deductions.
Tara at Trulia had some great pointers for homeowners filing their taxes this year.
Ask a roomful of homeowners what's so great about owning versus renting, and you'll hear them holler in unison: "the tax deductions!"
That means that if you're in a 28% tax bracket, Uncle Sam effectively subsidizes about a third of your borrowing costs or more, making your home more affordable or allowing you to buy a larger home than you could have otherwise. Also, big chunks of your closing costs are tax deductible, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of any profit (or capital gains) that you realize when you sell your home are exempt from income taxes.
Remember: You Have to Itemize Your Return to Claim Your Deductions.
During the recent debate on Capitol Hill about whether the mortgage interest deduction should be eliminated, it came out that nearly 40% of homeowners lose out on their major tax advantages every year when they fail to itemize their income taxes.
Another Point to Remember: Tax Relief for Loan Modifications, Short Sales and Foreclosures Is Only Around Through 2012.
2011 is projected to be the peak year for foreclosures during this market cycle. Distressed homeowners who are on the brink of a short sale, loan modification or foreclosure should be aware that normally, any mortgage balance that is wiped out by one of these outcomes is taxed as what the IRS calls Cancellation of Debt Income, or CODI.
The IRS is currently not charging income taxes on CODI incurred through a loan mod, short sale or foreclosure on most primary residences through 2012. But as I've mentioned before, banks are taking many months, or even years, to work out mortgages in any of these ways. If you foresee any of these outcomes in your future, don't put things off. Do what you can to get to closure on your distressed home and loan, ASAP, while you won't have income taxes to add as the insult on top of your significant housing injury.