@doctorsprague - if you took cash out and you have not yet spent the money to improve your home, then the related interest is not tax deductible UNTIL you use the cash to improve your home
it won't do you any good to file for an extension because for each day that has gone by since you cashed out, the cash out portion isn't deductible in any event. Spending the money later to improve your home won't solve the past
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p936.pdf
see page 10 and the examples
also, as the loan amortizes, it's the cash out portion that is presumed to paydown first; if some of the cash out interest is not tax-deductible, then over time a higher and higher percent of the interest becomes deductible
comes 2025, you can always refinance, but if Congress changes the law, they will just grandfather in the debt; I can't imagine they will force folks to refi. However, and I have no crystal ball, I wouldn't bet on it. Much of the 2007-2008 financial and housing crisis was caused by people cashing out their equity and the government, through the tax deductibility of the interest, encouraging it. I don't they will encourage it again.
does that help?
