All of us yearn to own a home. It means a lot of savings for us; no longer do we have to pay rent for an indefinite amount of time. No longer can we put up with unreasonable landlords who’d demand payment for rent even when the due date is not around yet. With home ownership, all we get to pay are the monthly terms for the mortgage and that goes for only a definite amount of time.

Savings from rent, of course, are not the only thing that we can enjoy when we make true on our dreams for home ownership. There are tax benefits that you can enjoy when you own a home, and that is a welcome respite. We all know that tax can be a nightmare; the amount of tax we pay grows as our salary grows. Ironic, but as our income grow, we find it harder to save up for a home or other expenses.

Here are just some of the tax benefits you can enjoy when you own your home and regularly pay mortgage:

The interest you pay every month can be deducted from your income taxes. This information should be placed in the 1040 tax form under schedule A in order to be included in your annual tax deductions and refunds.

You don’t have to pay monthly property taxes. The lender does this on your behalf, using a fund in escrow. This escrow is composed partly of the funds you pay every month for your mortgage. All you need to do is report the amount of taxes using information provided to you by the lender at the end of the year.

You can apply for deductions for any cost you incur when you repair, or remodel the house that you bought if you used a loan to do that. The amount you spent for acquiring the home can also be deducted from your annual income tax figures. You can claim for at most $1 million in the interest you incurred from these debts.

The government reduces the amount it will get from your proceeds in case you sell your home using the expenses that you incurred to improve and remodel the house. Your taxable gains is also substantially reduced by whatever expenses you incur when trying to sell the house like advertising as well as the commissions you pay an agent.

Lower down payments can also result in tax benefits for you. Even though you’d probably be paying over an extended period of time--we could be looking at a term of 15 to 30 years--you can enjoy deductions from your taxable income throughout that term. You can save up or use the money for further investments to secure your family’s future.

To summarize it, owning a home greatly reduces your real income. That is because whatever expenses that have been deducted from it are not recognized by the government as part of your real income when calculating your taxable salaries. It’s like the government is refunding you for whatever expenses you incur for the sake of your house, which is only fair and just.