美國出租房購買和重貸費用報稅探討

一般情況下，美國投資房的購買以及後來可能的重貸(refinance)都會有各種各樣的費用（稱為 Settlement costs，或 closing costs)，這些費用該如何報稅呢？ 根據IRS公布的資料（IRS Publications），以及讀到的有關報稅的書，現在來探討一下。

實際上，隻要把 IRS Publication 551 （Basis of Assets）中關於 Settlement costs 這部分讀明白了， 也就知道答案了。 IRS Publication 551的原文如下：

Settlement costs.

Your basis includes the settlement fees and closing costs for buying property. You can't include in your basis the fees and costs for getting a loan on property. A fee for buying property is a cost that must be paid even if you bought the property for cash.

The following items are some of the settlement fees or closing costs you can include in the basis of your property.

• Abstract fees (abstract of title fees).
• Charges for installing utility services.
• Legal fees (including title search and preparation of the sales contract and deed).
• Recording fees.
• Surveys.
• Transfer taxes.
• Owner's title insurance.
• Any amounts the seller owes that you agree to pay, such as back taxes or interest, recording or mortgage fees, charges for improvements or repairs, and sales commissions.

Settlement costs don't include amounts placed in escrow for the future payment of items such as taxes and insurance. The following items are some settlement fees and closing costs you can't include in the basis of the property.

1. 1) Casualty insurance premiums.
2. 2) Rent for occupancy of the property before closing.
3. 3) Charges for utilities or other services related to occupancy of the property before closing.
4. 4) Charges connected with getting a loan. The following are examples of these charges.
   1. Points (discount points, loan origination fees).
   2. Mortgage insurance premiums.
   3. Loan assumption fees.
   4. Cost of a credit report.
   5. Fees for an appraisal required by a lender.
5. 5) Fees for refinancing a mortgage.

If these costs relate to business property, items (1) through (3) are deductible as business expenses. Items (4) and (5) must be capitalized as costs of getting a loan and can be deducted over the period of the loan.

過戶費用主要包括兩部分：

A) 與貸款沒有必然聯係的費用（上麵紅色部分，以下稱A部分）：無論用現金買房，還是貸款買房，這部分費用都是必須要付的。
B) 僅與貸款有關的費用（上麵藍色部分，以下稱B部分）：若用現金買房就不需要付這筆費用。

需要說明一點的是，prepaid interest以及Escrow裏的費用(property taxes and insurance)並不是真正的過戶費用，並且這部分費用都可以當年直接減掉（deduct）。

一.  購房費用

費用A部分需要加到房子的basis每年折舊（depreciate）。

費用B部分既不能加到房子的basis，也不能直接在一年內減掉，一般需要按照貸款的年限每年來攤銷（amortize)。比如30年的貸款，貸款費用是3000，就需要按照30年來攤銷， 每年可以減掉：3000/30 = 100。

二.  重貸費用

費用B部分是需要按照貸款的年限每年來攤銷的，這個不應該有什麽異議。

問題是A部分到底是需要加到basis 去折舊, 還是加到B上一起攤銷? 我個人認為是需要加到B上去攤銷。因為重貸並沒有對房產功能本身帶來任何影響， 也就是說，重貸不應該影響房產的basis， 所以不應該折舊， 而應該和B一起攤銷。上麵IRS原文中的綠色部分清楚說明了這一點。

三.  提前付完貸款

如果一個貸款被提前付完，無論是提前還完，或是重貸，或是房子被賣掉，貸款費用中還沒有被攤銷掉的餘額，該如何處理呢？比如舊貸款的費用是3000美元，重貸時舊貸款已經被攤銷掉500美元，那舊貸款費用中餘下的2500美元該如何處理呢？

關於這一點，我並沒有在IRS 的Publications找到明確的答案。不過，IRS對貸款費用中的points（也稱loan origination fees, maximum loan charges，或 premium charges）倒是有明確的說明，IRS Publication 527 （Residential Rental Property ）的 Loan or mortgage ends 的原文如下：

Loan or mortgage ends.

If your loan or mortgage ends, you may be able to deduct any remaining points (OID) in the tax year in which the loan or mortgage ends. A loan or mortgage may end due to a refinancing, prepayment, foreclosure, or similar event. However, if the refinancing is with the same lender, the remaining points (OID) generally aren’t deductible in the year in which the refinancing occurs, but may be deductible over the term of the new mortgage or loan.

也就是說：如果一個貸款被提前付完，那麽前麵貸款費用中的point沒有被完全攤銷掉而剩下的部分，可以在當年報稅時直接減掉。

舉個例子：John 在2014年貸款買的房子，費用中的points是$3000。至2018年，這筆費用已經被攤銷掉$500,也就是說還剩下$2500，這時John 做了30年重貸，而新貸款的Points是$4000。那麽John可以從2018年開始逐年攤銷新貸款中$4000，但可以在2018年報稅中直接減掉舊貸款剩下的$2500。

這裏有個例外：如果前後兩個貸款都是同一個債權人（lender），那不允許減掉前麵那個貸款剩下的部分，而應該加到新貸款中重新開始攤銷。若以上麵的例子，如果John 前後兩個貸款都是同一貸款公司，那麽他隻能把$2500加到$4000,共$6500重新以30年開始攤銷。

注意的是，IRS前麵的說明隻針對於貸款費用中的points，而對貸款費用中的其它部分，到現在我也沒有在任何IRS的Publications中找到明確的答案。我自己對於貸款費用中除points以外的其它費用，處理方法也跟points一樣。

References:

• Publication 551 (Basis of Assets) - Settlement costs
• Publication 527 (Residential Rental Property ) - Loan or mortgage ends

（注：非CPA， 若有錯誤， 歡迎指正！）

建寧   2022/1/5