Me and my girlfriend have purchased a house together. Since we are not married we will be both filing single (although we do share joint finances and are both on the mortgage). I'd like to collectively maximize our deduction(s).
I realize that if we each take half of the interest deduction for ourselves, that will decrease the total amount that our itemized deductions exceed our standard deduction.
In other words - if one of us claims all the interest (and other qualified deductions), and one of us claims the standard deduction, together we will accumulate a bigger tax refund than if we both split the deductions.
So my question is how should we determine who claims the interest on the mortgage (and other deductions), and is there anything in the tax code that dictates what percentage of the total we each should claim? Does what we each claim this year lock us in to that methodology in future years, or is each year independent as far as who can claim which expense?
I realize that if we each take half of the interest deduction for ourselves, that will decrease the total amount that our itemized deductions exceed our standard deduction.
In other words - if one of us claims all the interest (and other qualified deductions), and one of us claims the standard deduction, together we will accumulate a bigger tax refund than if we both split the deductions.
So my question is how should we determine who claims the interest on the mortgage (and other deductions), and is there anything in the tax code that dictates what percentage of the total we each should claim? Does what we each claim this year lock us in to that methodology in future years, or is each year independent as far as who can claim which expense?