From our perspective, your question should be answered from a viewpoint of comfort, too. Some people like debt and some don't. If you are comfortable with the debt, and your tax advisor has no particular problem with it, you should consider leaving it as is. If you are uncomfortable, however, perhaps you should consider paying it off, regardless what your tax advisor suggests. At PaineWebber, we believe investors should be comfortable with the way their money is being invested, so if the additional debt is worrying you, get rid of it.
Life is too short to be worried about money.
Save your worry time for things that are more meaningful. I'm over 70 years old now. I will begin by saying that at PaineWebber we provide investment advice not tax advice. I will answer this tax question, but I prefer to keep future questions related to investing. As I said in the beginning, PaineWebber provides investment advice, not tax advice.