Owner Occupied Duplex - Schedule A. I am inputting my mortgage interest in Turbo Tax but my Schedule A (when I review the forms) shows a much higher number - why?

[aulmen]

Schedule C for the duplex shows the correct amounts.

[MinhT1]

When you rent out part of your home, common expenses have to be apportioned between personal use and business use (rental) of your home.

You need to calculate the percentage of business (rental) use. One common method is to divide the square footage of the rented portion by the total square footage of the house.

In the rental section, you will deduct as rental expenses the rental portion (total costs multiplied by the percentage of business use) of each common cost (such as mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities…). You also claim other costs related to the rental such as repairs and maintenance, etc..

In the personal section, you will claim in Itemized deductions the personal use portion of mortgage interest and property taxes.

Please read this IRS publication, paragraph on Renting Part of Property on page 16:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p527.pdf

[aulmen]

I agree with your statement below and that is how I have done my worksheets this year and the last 2 years.  The current issue is that I am inputting my portion of the mortgage interest which is $15k but on schedule A it is showing $25k.  My inputs and schedule A are not matching.

[MinhT1]

Please try deleting form 1098 and reentering it. To delete form 1098, revisit the mortgage interest section in Deductions & Credits and click on the trash can icon next to that form.

[AmeliesUncle]

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@aulmen wrote:
Schedule C for the duplex shows the correct amounts.

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Schedule C?  Or did you mean Schedule E?

Unless you provide "services" to the tenants (such as maid service or meals), the rental would go on Schedule E.  If you have been reporting it incorrectly, you need to amend the incorrect tax returns.

[aulmen]

I meant Schedule E - my bad.  Schedule E has the mortgage interest and property tax listed correctly.  Schedule A has a much larger number than I have inputted.  

[AmeliesUncle]

When filling out the rental, did you say it was an "owner occupied" rental?  If so, the program automatically prorates things, and you would not enter it again as an Itemized Deduction.

[aulmen]

Yes I marked as an owner occupied duplex.  Per your advice I zeroed out the rental portion of taxes and mortgage interest in that section but Turbo Tax now doesn't show any interest paid or property tax on Schedule E. 

[MinhT1]

You should leave the numbers in the rental section (Schedule E) as they were correct..

You should delete form 1098 and the numbers for property taxes and mortgage interest (form 1098) in the personal deductions section and reenter them

[AmeliesUncle · Accepted solution]

I think you misunderstood what I said.  ONLY enter it in the rental section.  DON'T enter it again as personal interest/taxes.

[aulmen]

OK - that seemed to sort things out.  Thank you very much.