2007 Tax - What is the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007?

By: Robert A. Johnson

With so many people finding themselves facing foreclosure the American government finally stepped in to help out a little. Although nothing could be done about saving the homes, there was The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 which was enacted on December 20, 2007.

What this means is that some or all of the debt that is left from a foreclosure can be forgiven for the 2007 tax return and the following two years. Before this act was passed, any debt that was left after the foreclosure of a home was basically considered taxable income and had to be claimed on that year’s income taxes.

This act only applied to debt that was obtained due to the purchase of a person principal residence or to improve the residence. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 applies to the 2007 tax return along with the 2008 and the 2009 tax return. When people had to file 2007 taxes they still had to report the debt on their tax return. The form 982 has to be filed out and attached to the rest of your 2007 tax return.

Form 982 will have to be filed out for those who are filing for this relief on their 2008 and 2009 taxes. The form can be easily obtained by downloading it from IRS.gov. It is also good to know that as long as the loan amount that you are seeking help on was less then two million dollars it will be covered. If married couples are filing separately then it is one million dollars.

Just keep in mind that this form and this act cannot be used for second homes or rentals that a person had which were foreclosed on. There can be extensions on your 2007 tax return filed though in order to give extra time to pay the taxes on that debt since it is likely to be a good amount of money.

While this doesn’t solve the problem of not having a home any longer, it is at least a good amount of help to make sure those who lost their homes have an easier time moving on as they will not have to pay taxes on that debt.