Deduct Your Yachts While You Still Can, Young Taxpayers
According to Businessweek, Democratic Representative Mike Quigley has introduced a bill to amend the federal tax code so that boats cannot be claimed as second mortgages! Bold.
To qualify for the current deduction, your boat has to be something you can live in, so it needs a toilet, a kitchen, and a place to sleep. Otherwise, it’s just a boat, not a house, you pleb! And don’t panic: if your boat is your actual primary residence then you can still deduct payments on your boat loan.
The bill’s sponsors say cutting the break for boats will save more than $150 million over 10 years — a sliver of the estimated $8 billion that second-home interest deductions cost the U.S. each year. The boat industry argues it’s not the rich but average Americans who’ll take the hit.
I am no scientist, but I do not think the average American owns a boat! (It seems 8ish% of Americans own a boat) Much less a home and then also a boat big enough to live in. Also if you are an average American with the median household income of $53,000 a year and you own a boat then congratulations you must have really wanted that boat — a tax break, though? Come on.
A bill like this has been proposed before — in 1987 and 2011 — and has died twice. Maybe third time’s a charm? In the meantime, claim on.
Photo: Yorick R.
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