George recently received a great stock tip from his friend, mason. george didn’t have any cash on hand to invest, so he decided to take out a $20,000 loan to facilitate the stock acquisition. the loan terms are 8 percent interest with interest-only payments due each year for five years. at the end of the five-year period the entire loan principal is due. when george closed on the loan on april 1, 2015, he decided to invest $16,000 in stock and to use the remaining $4,000 to purchase a four-wheel recreation vehicle. george is unsure how he will treat the interest paid on the $20,000 loan. in 2015, george paid $1,200 interest expense on the loan. (hint: visit and consider irs publication 550.)what amount may he deduct as interest in 2015?