Tax guidance is available for those who received federal mortgage payment assistance from the Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF). The HAF, part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, is intended to mitigate housing-related financial hardships caused by the pandemic. The program provides funds to entities to assist homeowners in danger of mortgage defaults or loss of utilities after Jan. 21, 2020. For tax purposes, HAF payments will be treated as qualified disaster relief, not includible in the homeowner’s gross income. A safe harbor is provided that homeowners may use to compute itemized mortgage deductions if they paid part of their mortgage costs themselves. For more: https://bit.ly/3qhr5Td