Dear Liz: You recently wrote about home equity lines of credit and home equity loans. You might have mentioned that these are tax deductible under certain circumstances.
Answer: Yes, but the circumstances are increasingly rare.
Technically, the interest on a home equity loan or line of credit can be deductible when the money is used to improve your home. However, you must be able to itemize your deductions to take advantage of this write-off. Thanks to increases in the standard deduction, fewer than 10% of taxpayers itemize.