Tax Deductions for Homeowners in 2026

What are tax deductions?

Tax deductions reduce your tax burden by lowering your taxable income. Deductions can drop you into a lower tax bracket, saving you more money. You claim tax deductions by using either a standard deduction or itemized deductions, whichever saves you more money.

Standard deduction

The IRS sets the standard deduction amount annually. Most taxpayers claim this deduction, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The table below shows the standard deduction amounts for the 2025 and 2026 tax years. The 2025 standard deduction was updated under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB).

Itemized deductions

Despite the popularity of the standard deduction, you should run the numbers to see if you can save more money with itemized deductions. If your itemized deductions are greater than the standard deduction, it makes more sense to itemize your deductions on your taxes. You can then lower your taxable income and reduce the amount of taxes you owe.

According to the IRS, it can also make sense to itemize deductions if you:

• Paid interest and taxes on your home
• Had significant medical and dental expenses for the year
• Made large contributions to charities
• Had significant uninsured casualty or theft losses

7 homeowner tax deductions

Tax deductions can help you offset some of the costs of homeownership. Some common tax deductions for homeowners include:

1. Mortgage interest

If you have a mortgage loan, you have to pay back both the principal amount that you borrowed plus interest. The interest paid on your mortgage is deductible.

Single people and married couples filing jointly can deduct mortgage interest on the first $750,000 of debt. If you’re married and filing separately, you can deduct interest on up to $375,000.

2. Home equity loan interest

A home equity loan or home equity line of credit (HELOC) lets you borrow money against the equity in your home. Like with a mortgage, you pay interest on the amount you borrow, and this interest is potentially deductible.

To be able to deduct the interest, you must use the borrowed money to buy, build or substantially improve the home. You can’t deduct home equity interest if you use the money to make other purchases or consolidate debt, like credit card balances.

Eligible home equity loan and line of credit balances count toward the $750,000 mortgage interest deduction cap, or $375,000 if you’re married and filing separately.

3. Mortgage points

If you bought mortgage discount points to reduce the interest rate on your mortgage loan, you can deduct what you paid since points are prepaid mortgage interest. To be able to deduct points, the points must meet certain IRS requirements, such as being used for a primary residence.

You can typically deduct the full amount in the year you pay them, though if you don’t qualify for this option, you can generally deduct them over the life of the loan. If you refinance or pay off your mortgage early, the remaining balance of the deduction can be claimed in the year of the refinance or payoff.

4. Property taxes

You can also deduct property taxes paid on real estate you own, such as vacation homes, rental property and land. Generally, you can deduct a combined total of $40,000 for state and local property taxes. This limit is $20,000 for married couples filing separately, though.

5. Rental property expenses

If you own rental property, you might be able to write off certain expenses, like maintenance, real estate taxes, utilities and insurance. If you own a home that you rent out, your personal use of the property must be limited to a maximum of 14 days per year or 10% of the total days per year you rent it to others, whichever number is greater.

Caitlynn Eldridge, a certified public accountant (CPA) and partner at Prospera Strategy, notes that many rental property investors miss out on valuable deductions.

Homeowners who rent their property out often miss depreciation, homeowner association fees, lawn care fees and any travel to and from the rental house to take care of repairs,” Eldridge said. “Unfortunately, the homeowner's labor isn't deductible when making repairs.

6. Home office expenses

If you have a home office for your business, some expenses are deductible. For this write-off, your home office must be your primary place of business, and the space must be exclusively used for the business. For example, using a common area in your home, like your dining room table, is not eligible for a home office deduction.

Romeo Razi, owner of Taxed Right, a tax consultancy for businesses, cautioned that the home office deduction is complicated.

It's best that you reach out to a CPA to make sure you don't do anything wrong and get in trouble with the IRS,” Razi said.

7. Medically necessary home improvements

Certain types of home improvements are deductible, such as if there’s a medical need for the improvement. However, if the home improvements increase the value of your home, they can’t be claimed as a medical expense.

Medically necessary home improvements fall under the medical expense deduction, so you can only write off amounts that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

» MORE: The Tax Benefits of Owning a Home: Must-Know Deductions and Secrets

What isn’t tax deductible for homeowners?

Many costs related to owning a home aren’t tax deductible. Some of these costs include:

• Mortgage payments, including full payment amounts or principal
• Mortgage insurance premiums
• Home repairs and maintenance like fixing leaky pipes, replacing appliances or painting
• Utilities like water, electricity, gas and internet
• Home upgrades like remodeling a kitchen or bathroom
• Homeowners association (HOA) fees
• Mortgage closing costs
• Homeowners insurance premiums

Bottom line

Tax deductions can be a great way to reduce your tax bill each year, and there are many deductions available for homeowners. If you're unsure of what qualifies as a tax deduction or whether you should itemize or take a standard deduction, consult a tax professional.

» READ MORE: Best Tax Software and Services