Deductions · calculator
Mortgage interest deduction in 2026
Which part of your mortgage interest is deductible, and whether it is enough to make itemizing worth it.
Mortgage interest you can deduct
Deductible mortgage interest
$31,000
Itemizing gives $45,000: $12,800 more than the standard deduction
- Debt limit that applies$750,000
- Share of interest deductible100%
- SALT deduction alongside$14,000
- Standard deduction$32,200
Acquisition debt on a main or second home. From 2026 mortgage insurance premiums count as interest again (P.L. 119-21 §70108); they are not included here.
Home mortgage interest remains deductible in 2026 on up to $750,000 of debt used to buy, build or substantially improve a main or second home ($375,000 married filing separately), and Public Law 119-21 made that limit permanent instead of letting it return to $1,000,000 after 2025 (section 70108). Mortgages taken out before December 16, 2017 keep the older $1,000,000 limit. When the balance exceeds the limit, only the matching share of the interest is deductible: a couple with a $1,000,000 post-2017 mortgage and $62,000 of interest deducts $46,500. From 2026 mortgage insurance premiums count as deductible interest again, after expiring for 2022 through 2025 according to IRS Publication 936. The deduction is an itemized deduction, so it only helps when mortgage interest, state and local taxes up to the $40,400 cap and charitable gifts together exceed the $32,200 joint standard deduction. Home equity interest counts only when the loan improved the home.
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Which limit applies to your loan
| Mortgage taken out | Debt limit | Married filing separately |
|---|---|---|
| Before December 16, 2017 (or binding contract before December 15, 2017) | $1,000,000 | $500,000 |
| After December 15, 2017 | $750,000 | $375,000 |
| Refinanced older mortgage, up to the old balance | $1,000,000 | $500,000 |
The limit counts all acquisition debt on up to two homes together. A refinancing keeps the grandfathered status only up to the balance of the old loan just before the refinance; any cash taken out on top follows the current rules.
Will itemizing beat the standard deduction?
For most households the real question is not the limit but the comparison. In 2026 a married couple needs more than $32,200 of itemized deductions to gain anything. Interest on a $400,000 mortgage at 6.5% is about $26,000 in the early years; add $12,000 of property and state taxes and the couple itemizes $38,000, $5,800 more than the standard deduction. At a 22% rate, the mortgage interest is then worth about $1,276 of tax, far less than its face amount. The SALT cap rose to $40,400, which makes itemizing more common in high-tax states.
Married couples filing separately
Each spouse filing separately has half the limit, $375,000 for a recent mortgage, and if one spouse itemizes the other must itemize too, losing the standard deduction. Separate filers also lose the Schedule 1-A deductions and get half the SALT cap, so the mortgage interest deduction rarely justifies separate returns on its own.
Points, second homes and rentals
Points paid to buy a main home are generally deductible in the year paid; points on a refinance are spread over the loan. A second home counts if you use it personally; a home rented out most of the year falls under the rental rules of Schedule E instead. The itemize-or-not calculator adds the other deductions.
Sources: IRS Publication 936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction; section 70108 of Public Law 119-21, read on October 11, 2026.