what do you get a better income tax refund with a child or a house?

we live in new york state and my husband says owning a house will get you a better tax break.i say a child and claiming head of household will give more of a tax break.we both make together around 150k a yr.the house we would buy would be around 300k with 20% down.now before i get any anger answers we do not plan on having a child just for tax reasons we are not planning to have any.this is just a argument my husband and i had and i think i'm right and he thinks hes right.

Public Comments

1. House because at 150K you would not qualify for earned income credit on the child, because you make too much money. You would have to earn less than $25k a year combined to qualify for much of an EIC credit. Child care tax credits would not apply to you guys because you are over 6 figures a year in income. You can't claim head of household if you are married and live together in the same house, legally. Plan on spending a lot more than 300k on a house though, if you expect to get much in the way of a refund. Upwards of 750k with 20 percent down. My husband and I have 2 children. We have a mortgage, but we chose to take the standard deduction and not itemise. Our annual income is around $15,000 a year combined. We qualify for the EIC credit. Our tax refund is usually over $5000 a year. My sister and her husband have 9 children. They have a mortgage. They itemise their deductions. Their income combined is around $46,000 a year. They usually get about $1000 back each year because they make too much money to qualify for EIC credit. Since you guys are rich, you might try investing money in stuff so you can deduct it....IRAs, that type of thing... I wish my husband and I had enough money to set up retirement accounts and that type of thing, but we don't. My husband is almost 51 and has no retirement plan because we simply can't afford to meet our living expenses and contribute to one too. I don't have a retirement plan, either. As daycare around here costs $300 a week for 2 children, we decided I'd stay home and take care of the children, since daycare would cost more than my take home for 40 hours a week. My advice....what I'd do if I were lucky enough to be in your shoes....contribute the maximum to 2 IRA's one for you and one for your husband. Thats about $4000 between the 2 that you could deduct....contribute ten percent (or more) of your income to charity (you can deduct that.)....buy a house....deduct the mortagae interest you pay and hope for the best as far as a refund goes. But, I wouldn't be worrying about tax breaks or refunds that much really...all my family's bills would be paid, my house paid off, and I'd have money invested ...if my family were lucky enough to have an income like that for just one year alone. Good luck.
2. You may not get any benefit from the house unless you can itemize and have huge interest and deductions. Sometimes doesn't even equal out to standard deduction. Every person's situation is different depending on how much you're making, what your tax rate is, how much interest can claim on house, how many other deductions you have. So there is no "right" answer.
3. txharleygirl gave a very good answer. one aspect of the equation not really addressed is IRA states that fully 85% of home owners do not get to use the'house deduction' because they get more with the standard deduction. now a house is a lousy tax break. you GIVE the bankers 1000$ so you can save 280$ on your taxes? you can Give your church 1000$ and get a real tax break. visit daveramsey.com to learnwhat bankers pray you never ever learn and act on.