Second Home Definition

• The Internal Revenue Service says that for a second home to be considered a home for mortgage interest tax deduction purposes, it must be equipped with certain amenities. A bathroom facility is required to be considered a second home. A second home must also have a kitchen and sleeping facilities. Most modern RVs easily meet these requirements.
  
  

Limitations on Deductibility

• The tax laws allow you to write off the interest that you pay on up to $1.1 million in loans for a first and second home. This limit is the total for both homes, not each one. To take a full tax deduction, you also cannot rent the home for more than 14 days. You may not completely lose the deduction if you rent it out longer, but special rules apply.
  
  

Reporting the Interest To You

• Interest that you paid on a regular home mortgage must be reported to you on an IRS Form 1098. Lenders granting RV loans are not required to issue you a Form 1098 for the interest. You may still report the interest and take the full deduction if the loan meets the other conditions for deductibility. You may need to call the lender directly and get the amount of interest paid for the year, unless you have kept track of it yourself.
  
  

Property Taxes

• You may deduct property taxes paid on any number of homes that you own. This also applies to RVs that meet the requirements to be considered a home as well. Most jurisdictions do not assess real estate property taxes on RVs, but they may levy a personal property tax. This would be deductible. If your local taxing authority charges you a value-added or excise tax based on the value of the RV when you register it, that would be a deductible expense as well.