The home equity loan comes with a variety of tax planning considerations if you expect to deduct the interest on your income taxes.

You would think that something as simple as a home equity loan would be straightforward. But you know the old rule: The difference between death and taxes is that death does not get worse every time lawmakers meet. That’s what happened here. Lawmakers got together. They told you they were reforming and simplifying your taxes. Presto: You now have to tax plan your home equity loans.

Planning tip. You need to be alert whenever there is any so-called tax reform or simplification. In most cases, this is a lawmakers’ shell game designed to extract more taxes from you, especially if you fail to do some ... Log in to view full article.