Tax deductions for jointly owned property

My brother and I just bought a house together (we've been planning on this since childhood) and we are wondering how the tax setup works when a house has more than owner. Which owner can claim the tax deductions for mortgage interest and so on?

Hi there,

When two people share ownership of one property, they are both entitled to certain tax deductions.

If you have mortgaged the property, you can each deduct the portion of interest charged which you pay. Unless you have a special agreement, you will normally each be responsible for half of the mortgage so you can each deduct half of the annual interest paid from your taxable income. If the mortgage is only in one person's name, only that person is eligible for this deduction.

The tax deduction for debt (when calculating wealth tax) works exactly the same way. The mortgage debt is normally split between the two of you, unless you have a special mortgage arrangement or only one of you took out the mortgage alone.

The deduction for property maintenance expenses is based on your co-ownership share, or the portion of the property which you own.

Best regards from Moneyguru

More on this topic:
Interactive mortgage comparison
Mortgage calculators