Is second home mortgage interest deductible?

What the publication means by a second home

A second home, in Publication 936, is a home that you choose to treat as your second home. That definition leaves the choice with you, within limits, and the choice can be something other than a vacation house. The home can be a house, condominium, cooperative, mobile home, house trailer, boat or similar property that has sleeping, cooking and toilet facilities. The mortgage interest rules apply to a loan secured by it exactly as they do for your main home, subject to the conditions below.

Not rented out: no minimum use

If you do not hold the home out for rent or resale to others at any time during the year, you can treat it as a qualified home. The publication adds that you do not have to use the home during the year. A cabin you visit twice or not at all still qualifies, so long as you never held it out for rent or resale.

Rented out part of the year: the use test

Renting changes the answer. If you rent your second home part of the year, you must also use it as a home. Your use must be more than 14 days or more than 10% of the number of days the home is rented at a fair rental, whichever is longer. If you do not use it enough, the publication treats it as rental property and not as a second home; Publication 527 covers rental property. For example, a home rented for 200 days must be used for more than 20 days, since 10% of 200 is greater than 14. A home rented 100 days needs more than 14 days because 10% of 100 is only 10. The qualified home page has a calculator for this test.

For a time-share, count only days during the time you have a right to use it or to receive benefits from renting it.

Only one second home counts

If you own several, only one can be treated as the qualified second home in any year. The publication lets you change which one during the year in three situations: you get a new home, so you can choose it as of the day you buy it; your main home stops being your main home, so you can choose it as of the day you stop using it as such; or your second home is sold or becomes your main home, so you can choose a new one as of that day. Choose carefully if one of your properties has a much larger mortgage.

The dollar limit covers both homes

The limits on mortgage debt apply to the combined mortgages on your main home and second home. Loans taken out after December 15, 2017 to buy, build or substantially improve the homes are limited to $750,000 ($375,000 if married filing separately), and loans from October 14, 1987 through December 15, 2017 to $1 million ($500,000). Debt on a second home that exceeds those limits is not fully deductible; the acquisition debt page has a calculator. You can deduct all the interest only if the combined balances stay within the limits at all times during the year.

Points on a second home

The publication has a caution: you cannot fully deduct in the year paid the points you pay on loans secured by your second home. You can deduct these points only over the life of the loan. The calculator above spreads them. Using the publication’s method, $4,800 of points on a 20-year loan with three payments made in the first year yields $60 for that year. See are mortgage points deductible for the full rule.

Married filing separately

If you are married filing separately and you and your spouse own more than one home, you can each take into account only one home as a qualified home. If you both consent in writing, one spouse can take both the main home and a second home into account. That written consent lets one spouse claim the interest on both properties when it is the better result.

Second home that later becomes rental

If you stop using the home enough, or hold it out for rent or resale, it no longer meets the second-home rules and you should look at the rental rules instead. The interest on a loan secured by a home that is neither your main nor second home may still be deductible if the proceeds were used for business, investment or other deductible purposes; otherwise it is personal interest and is not deductible.

Reporting

Interest reported to you on Form 1098 goes on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 8a, and interest not reported goes on line 8b. If you paid interest to the person you bought the home from, show that person’s name, address and taxpayer identification number next to line 8b; failing to do so can cost a $50 penalty for each failure. Itemizing only helps if the total beats the standard deduction, so compare with the whether itemizing beats the standard deduction and the mortgage interest deduction calculator.

Sources

• IRS Publication 936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction (2025): “Second home”, “Second home not rented out” and “Second home rented out”, plus the Reminders, Table 1 and Table 2. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 936 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits in this publication are for 2025; the publication notes that tax legislation enacted July 4, 2025 (P.L. 119-21) may affect federal deductions, so check IRS.gov/Pub936 and the Schedule A instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it. Marked for human review.