Debt consolidation consists of many financial features, which are based upon certain legal provisions and involve complicated mathematical calculations. These features include various interest rates, administrative costs, monthly repayments, closing costs, credit details, details of payment protection insurance cover, affordability of the loan based upon the income and expenditure of the borrower, income tax details and much more. It is difficult for an ordinary applicant to understand these computational complexities and arrive at the right calculation. Debt consolidation calculator is in fact software that can make these calculations in a matter of seconds. A borrower only needs to fill in the data in the calculator format for a particular calculation and he gets the required information. You will find these debt consolidation calculators on most financial websites that specialize in providing such loans. Fill in the details of the columns to calculate your eligibility, rate of interest, and affordability of a loan. Advantages of a Debt Consolidation Calculator Calculating the Eligibility of a Borrower The first important piece of information that a borrower needs to know is whether or not he is eligible to get the type and the amount of loan that he aspires for. A typical debt consolidation calculator's working is based on standard affordability ratios that are used to compute the qualification of a borrower for a particular loan. The calculator compares the borrower's mortgage payment with his monthly income and his total debt ratio or the back ratio with his total monthly obligations including mortgage payment. As a borrower, you need to feed in data related to your gross monthly income, down payment, debt information including auto loans, student loans, revolving accounts and other debts, if any. Besides this, you also need to provide information regarding the zip code, interest rates, and the loan term you have in mind. The calculator then outputs whether or not the loan in question will be affordable for you. This will in turn determine your eligibility for a particular consolidation loan. You may ask specific questions, for example, how much income you need to be eligible for a consolidation loan. Providing Data for Comparative Study The calculator may also help you to decide whether you should buy a new home or rent it. A tax consolidation loan is not tax deductible, which means a great saving in tax payments. A home loan may also mean a great reduction in monthly payments depending, of course, on your interest rates, the loan term and other specifications. As a borrower, you can use the calculator to analyze the total cost to rent a home versus the total cost to own a home for a specific period of time. You need to feed the data regarding the renter's insurance, annual rent increase percentage, value of the property, monthly taxes, monthly insurance, monthly maintenance, home value appreciation along with the zip code, loan amount, interest rate, loan payment term in years, loan points, loan costs and so on. The calculator will provide you with details about the viability of investing in a new home. Analyzing Tax Benefits Yet another important area where the debt consolidation calculator can help you is to discover the tax benefits of opting for consolidation debt mainly because debt consolidation loans are not tax deductible. The data input required for this calculation will consist of your loan parameters and the month you bought your home. You can estimate your Schedule A itemized deductions because home interest and points are captured in itemized deductions. The itemized deductions including your mortgage deductions will be compared with the standard deduction to arrive at the correct calculation of your tax benefits. Determining the APR of a Loan Similarly the debt consolidation calculator can determine the APR or the Annual Percentage Rate for a loan. There are various ways, which companies adopt to calculate the APR based on inputs relating to mortgage fees, which may include Appraisal, Credit Report, Processing, Document Preparation, Administration, Underwriting, Flood Certificate, Tax Service, Wire Transfer, and other fees.