We're planning on upgrading our Fifth Wheel in the next year or two. According to an article from 12/22/2017 at https://rvtravel.com/towable-rv-owners-lose-benefit-new-tax-bill/ the new Tax Bill only allows Motorcoach owners to deduct the interest on their RV loan, not towables.

The new tax will allow a deduction of interest on mortgages up to $750,000, for purchases of first and second homes, which can include RVs, but only motorized ones.

The new law only allows deduction for “any self-propelled vehicle designed for transporting persons or property on a public street, highway, or road,” which does not include towable RVs such as travel trailers and fifth wheels.

RVIA says it will work with the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee to include a change to the definition in a technical corrections bill which will likely be needed next year as other oversights and unintended consequences become known.

But, for now, if buying a towable RV is in your plans, don’t count on taking a tax deduction on the loan interest. If you already own a towable RV and have been deducting the interest, contact your tax professional to learn how this applies to you. 

I can't imagine that companies from states like Indiana whose economies are more RV-based won't be very involved in eliminating this hole in the tax code.

I'm looking forward to hearing Jim Koca, Escapees Advocacy Director, report on this legislation and any fixes upcoming.

PLEASE NO PARTISAN POLITICAL REMARKS. NO REASON FOR THAT. THIS IS JUST A LEGISLATIVE ISSUE THAT I WANTED TO CHECK BACK ON TO IF ANY PROGRESS IS MADE.

Edited December 24, 2017 by HelloFreedom

With the doubling of the standard deduction, I wonder how much of an impact there will be  on travel trailer owners as travel trailers tend to be at the lower end of RV prices. Being retired and not having a first mortgage anymore, we haven't been anywhere close to exceeding the standard deduction under the old rules for years. The standard advice on this forum seems to be to enter the RV lifestyle debt free so those that follow that advice would not have interest payments to deduct now or with the new tax rules. Those that are paying property taxes, mortgage interest on a sticks & bricks, state income tax, have significant medical/insurance expenses (above the percentage of income limit) and have a sizable loan on a towable RV may take a hit on the new limits to deductions.  

Edited December 24, 2017 by trailertraveler

As I understand the tax code, you may only deduct home interest if you file the long form, that is only possible if you meet the medical deduction minimum first. That was the old rules, no-one knows all the new rules yet, or how they will be implemented. The sky isn't falling yet.

Edited December 24, 2017 by Ray,IN

As noted above, not many of us will be itemizing because of the increased standard deduction. I have not been able to itemize for many years. I live in a low tax state and I don't owe anyone that I would pay interest on. Good Luck

Actually we have itemized for many years. Have lots of deductions traveling for work as I do. 

  On 12/24/2017 at 3:13 AM, Ray,IN said:

As I understand the tax code, you may only deduct home interest if you file the long form, that is only possible if you meet the medical deduction minimum first. That was the old rules, no-one knows all the new rules yet, or how they will be implemented. The sky isn't falling yet.

I don't believe this is true as regards what it takes to file long form. We have taken the mortgage deduction for both our S&B and 5th wheel which does as you point out require the long form. As a military retiree on Medicare and Tricare for Life we have never (and likely never will) been able to claim a medical deduction.

I will be following this topic as we do have the 5er vice a motorhome. Once the dust settles on all the minutia of the bill some bright somebody out there will start running some "what if" calculations to see what the impact it really going to be.

Meh.  Despite owning a S&B and buying a new 5er, I have never had enough deductions to make itemizing more beneficial than taking the standard deduction.  And since the standard will double in 2018, I am more than a little certain I'll pay less in federal taxes.

Only the first year out did we have enough to itemize, since then it is the standard deduction.  

  On 12/24/2017 at 3:13 AM, Ray,IN said:

if you file the long form, that is only possible if you meet the medical deduction minimum first.

This is not correct. What you do need is a total of deductions that exceed the amount of your standard deduction. The medical deductions must total 7.5% of your income to be deductible and the total deductions need to exceed the standard one. The law would allow you to file long form and claim your deductions even if they don't exceed the standard, but since that would mean that you pay more tax by doing so, most of us choose not to do that. 

  On 12/26/2017 at 1:44 AM, Kirk Wood said:

This is not correct. What you do need is a total of deductions that exceed the amount of your standard deduction. The medical deductions must total 7.5% of your income to be deductible and the total deductions need to exceed the standard one. The law would allow you to file long form and claim your deductions even if they don't exceed the standard, but since that would mean that you pay more tax by doing so, most of us choose not to do that. 

Yes, I know that's correct. What I said isn't what I was thinking. It's doable but only for an exceptionally few filers. I'd guess 98% of us could not come up with enough deductions to overcome the lack of 7.5% medical deductions.

well if "towables" get hurt like this, then to sell them the dealers are going to drop the prices by thousands of dollars.

why this country must get back on the gold standard, (aka real US dollars -no fed reserve notes-- and backed by gold).

as well as only taxing imports, not a mans (woman's) sweat.

I decided to crunch a few numbers and see what this might really mean in light of the doubling of the standard deduction to $12K for an individual and $24K for a couple.

According to an internet search,  most RV loan rates are currently between 4-6% depending on the amount and term. Many even new travel trailers are less than $50K. First year interest on a $50K loan would be $2000-3000. In comparison, the interest on a $350K loan for a custom 5th wheel like a New Horizon would be $21K at 6%.

I don't know if the new rules allow for deduction of sales tax instead of state and local income taxes, but have read that the local tax deduction is limited to $10K. This could potentially affect all buyers of high end RVs in non-income tax states. Might cause a boom for the LLC business.

Edited December 26, 2017 by trailertraveler

  On 12/26/2017 at 1:40 PM, Ray,IN said:

What I said isn't what I was thinking.

That seems to happen to a lot of us "very experienced" people. (Very experienced sounds way better than old! )

  On 12/26/2017 at 3:02 PM, packnrat said:

well if "towables" get hurt like this, then to sell them the dealers are going to drop the prices by thousands of dollars.

I'll be waiting to see that one happen! It will be nice if that happens. 

  On 12/26/2017 at 1:44 AM, Kirk Wood said:

This is not correct. What you do need is a total of deductions that exceed the amount of your standard deduction. The medical deductions must total 7.5% of your income to be deductible and the total deductions need to exceed the standard one. The law would allow you to file long form and claim your deductions even if they don't exceed the standard, but since that would mean that you pay more tax by doing so, most of us choose not to do that. 

Kirk,

There are some of us that are required to fill out the long form whether or not our deductions exceed the standard. Some circumstances that force you to file that form are having self employment income or if you have sold property during the year as well as the amount of income you have.

Edited December 28, 2017 by GeorgiaHybrid