Amendment showing refund despite no changes made

[ggheights1011]

Hello,

I started a 2024 tax amendment. The page first said the meter would be set to 0. However, once I start, without making any changes at all, it is showing a federal and state refund due with the amendment. I don't understand how this can happen without making any changes to the prior return.

Thanks.

[ggheights1011]

It seems that the difference is driven by a change in the calculation of line 8a of Schedule A:

"Home mortgage interest and points reported to you on Form 1098."

This is odd because I haven't changed any details pertaining to the 1098 from the prior year (2024)

Why would this change? 

Thanks.

[AmyC]

There may have been program updates made after you filed. When your software updates, it will pull in the changes. Check your forms for accuracy before filing. Mortgage interest calculations on mortgages with balances over $750,000 require an extra look.

Reference: About Publication 936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction

[ggheights1011]

Thank you @AmyC for this helpful reply. Does this logic regarding updates apply to online Turbotax 2024 "Expert Assist" as opposed to desktop versions?

On further inspection, it seems that the main difference between the original tax return and the amended draft one is the calculation of the mortgage interest deduction limitation for our mortgage (which is >$750K). I didn't make any changes to the underlying 1098 from the mortgage lender, yet the calculation of the limit changed considerably and is driving the unexpected refund that is due.

Oddly, though, when I ran the numbers myself on the mortgage interest deduction limitation following the average balance method, my resulting numbers were different. When I look at the underlying worksheet in the amendment for mortgage interest deduction, it lists the same beginning/ending mortgage balance for 2024, which also doesn't make sense)...

I'm not sure what to do now since it does seem that we may be due some refund, but perhaps not as much as Turbotax is spitting out (and it is not clear to me how one overrides that?).

Thanks.

[AmyC]

Yes. In fact, the IRS updated Pub 936 for handling balances incurred between 1987 and 2017. The software should have updated that for you.

There are different ways to calculate the balance. If you calculate a more favorable deduction using an approved method, you can:

• enter the correct mortgage interest amount allowed 
• select the balance was below $750k so the program won't try to figure it again.
• Sch A only shows the allowed amount when sent to the IRS- none of the program questions and answers.
• The IRS knows your balance was over $750k and will see your mortgage interest claimed is less.

Reference: About Publication 936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction