Federal Tax Credit On Home Improvements
October 31st, 2009
Question: Cashing in a savings bond — Tax Concern?
When I was young, my grandma would buy me (and my brothers) US Savings Bonds. I am now a grown man, and I am still holding on to them. Well, I have some home improvements coming up, and I could take out a home equity loan or line of credit to pay for them. But I’ve got these savings bonds sitting there just collecting dust. So I could cash them in and offset the amount of equity I’d have to use for these improvements. But here is my concern. I know that if you cash them in, you have to claim the interest earned on your federal taxes. So let’s say I have a $2500 savings bond that is now worth $5000 (so it has earned $2500 in interest). If I would cash that in, how badly would I get hurt come tax time? Can anyone tell me approximately what percentage of that $2500 I would end up having to give back to Uncle Sam? I am just trying to avoid getting myself into trouble, where I’ll end up owing $2000 next year. That would pretty much defeat the purpose of cashing them in.
Answer: The percentage you would pay would be based on your other income, it’s hard to say without knowing your situation. On $2500 it would range from about 10% up to 35% depending on your income. Most people about 15%.
A way around this for the future, if your children get savings bonds, you can file a tax return for the child each year, declaring the amount of interest the bond earns that year. Unless your kid is quite wealthy they won’t pay any tax yearly and when time comes to cash the bonds they will already have been declared and no tax is due.
Know the code: claiming credits; Pay attention to these if you want to reduce your federal tax liability
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of three articles examining tax changes that took effect in 2009, some of which were due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This week, The Bulletin looks at changes to nonrefundable tax credits, which reduce the taxes you pay the federal government.
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Tax Credit for Replacement Windows
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