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Income tax: what you could save if you take out a mortgage loan - La Nación Propiedades​


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June 11, 2024

A measure could be approved within the fiscal package that would provide relief to those who requested a mortgage loan and pay income tax

By Maria Josefina Lanzi


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Income Tax: a measure in the fiscal package could provide relief to those applying for a mortgage loanGerardo Viercovich - LA NACION



On Wednesday the Base Law and the fiscal package will be discussed in the Senate and, within that there is a measure related to taxes that, for some specialists, could imply a certain relief for borrowers of mortgage loans and will encourage more people to apply. encourage them to request them: the amount of the interest deduction for mortgage loans from income tax would be updated.

In other words, just as concepts such as rent , health insurance, donations are deducted from profits , the interest paid on mortgage loans (which would have been granted for the purchase or construction of properties intended for the taxpayer's home) may also be deducted. ) for a maximum amount that to date was $20,000 and would now amount to more than $3,000,000.


This possibility already existed previously, but the amount was established in 2001 and, since then, it had not been updated. “The amount would go from a maximum of $20,000 to an amount equivalent to the deduction for Non-Taxable Income (one of the personal deductions allowed in the Income Tax ) which, by 2024, would be $3,091,035 ,” says Sebastián Domínguez, accountant and CEO of SDC Asesores Tributarios, and clarifies that it would apply to those who have requested a mortgage loan for the purchase or construction of properties intended for the taxpayer's home.

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Income Tax: a measure could be approved that would provide relief to mortgage borrowersRicardo Access

This amount would be updated in September 2024 due to the variation in the CPI (Consumer Price Index) prepared by the INDEC corresponding to the months of June to August 2024, inclusive. Starting in 2025, the update would be semiannual in the months of January and July due to the variation in the CPI corresponding to the calendar semester that ends in the month immediately preceding the month of the update to be carried out.

The measure would also authorize the Executive Branch to increase these values during 2024 according to its criteria.

“It is good news, even when it is considered that it could be higher,” says Domínguez and explains: “ It is one more incentive for people to access their first home or, if they already have it, move to a larger and /or with greater comforts.”

“For those who pay income tax it is good, because they will pay less . The issue is that less is collected from the income tax and distorts the tax," says Federico González Rouco, an economist specialized in housing, who works at Empiria, Hernán Lacunza's consulting firm, and adds: "In addition, the impact of this is low, because it does not increase access to credit, but rather it is a subsequent deduction, so it does not imply that there is more credit for this , but rather that the percentage of people in Argentina who pay profits and take out a loan, is charge less. So, the same loan, if it is taken out by a person with a higher income, will be cheaper than if it is taken out by a person with a lower income who does not pay Earnings.”

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Income Tax: the amount of the interest deduction for mortgage loans would be updatedFabián Marelli - LA NACION

A little history about mortgage tax and interest​

The interest deduction corresponding to mortgage loans (granted as of 01/01/2001) was incorporated in 2001, through law 25,402 . At that time, it applied to the purchase or construction of new properties intended for the taxpayer's residence up to the sum of $4,000 per year.

Subsequently, through decree 860/2001, the requirement that the properties be new was eliminated and the amount of deductible interest was increased to $20,000. Since the 2001 Non-Taxable Income was $4,020, the amount of the mortgage loan interest deduction was almost five times that amount.

“That value has remained unchanged to date, even though inflation has been approximately 73,000% since then,” says Domínguez, adding that currently, to maintain an equivalent value “a deduction of just over $15,000,000 should be considered.” instead of $3,091,035″.

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Income Tax: within the Base Law and the fiscal package there is a measure that could provide relief to those who requested a mortgage loan

What would a specific case be like?​

If a 20-year UVA + TNA 5.5% mortgage loan equivalent to US$100,000 ($91,600,000) is simulated, the interest on the first 12 installments would be 5,057.62 UVAs. If we take the current value of UVA of $983 (value as of June 5), the interest would be equivalent to $4,973,410, that is, it would already exceed the deductible value.

Furthermore, given that the UVA value increases daily due to the effect of inflation, the interest will be for a greater amount in pesos. Consequently, a significant part of them would not be deductible from income tax .

In this simulation, for the interest to be fully deductible, the loan would have to be around $56,000,000 (US$61,135). Since, in general, the loan cannot exceed 75% of the value of the unit (since it is financed up to that percentage), it would correspond to a loan to purchase a home of up to US$81,500. These are estimated calculations that must be adjusted to the reality of each purchase operation and, depending on the conditions of the Bank that grants the loan.



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Income Tax: the deduction of interest corresponding to mortgage loans was incorporated in 2001Fabián Marelli - LA NACION

How many taxpayers deduct interest on mortgage loans on their income tax returns?​

The number of taxpayers who deducted mortgage interest in their income tax returns increased from the period 2008 with 13,822 cases to the period 2016 with a maximum of 59,369 cases.

In 2010, a small decrease was observed compared to previous periods and then continued to increase and reached a peak in 2016, which is in line with the UVA mortgage loans that began to be granted in the middle of that year .

After that jump in 2016 with a maximum of 59,369 cases, the number has decreased considerably in the following periods - as has the application for credits - until reaching 30,274 in 2021.


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“In recent years, more than 60,000 people have never used this benefit, in part because the amount was very low, it has been fixed since the beginning of the 2000s,” says Rouco and adds: “As a general idea, I don't like it. It does not encourage credit (no one is going to take out a loan just because this is approved) and it distorts Profits (when it is already a very hard tax ).”


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