Agreed.
Some other things to consider:
It doesn't make sense to pay another $4k interest to save $1k in taxes (25%).
Even if you did so, I am not sure how long you would have any benefit. Interest will go down every year. So if you borrow more, what you can itemize for? A year or 2 or 3?
Making long term tax strategies with current tax law is very shaky ground. The standard deduction for married filers was $7200 when I bought my first home in 1999. Today it is $10,900. IT hasn't even been 10 years. (It was increased considerably in 2003 - to double the single rate). On the flip side, we have a new presidency coming soon, which often means big tax changes. You could jump a lot of hoops to itemize just to find the standard deduction is decreased or increased soon after.
Considering all of this, it makes little sense.
You can give a bunch of money to charity if you want to itemize.
|