Form 1098 Box 10 has a number in parentheses ( ). What do the parentheses mean in comparison to the other numbers not in parentheses?

[KrisD15 · Accepted solution]

What type of 1098 is this?

If for reporting mortgage interest, you will need to ask the Lender what they reported in Box 10. 

Box 10 is for whatever the Lender wants to use it for. 

You could leave it blank if it is causing an error 

Usually a number in parentheses means it is a negative number. 

According to the IRS:

"Enter any other item you wish to report to the payer, such as real estate taxes, insurance paid from escrow, or, if you are a collection agent, the name of the person for whom you collected the interest."

IRS LINK

[hockeytown726]

Thank you, that helps a lot. I figured it meant a negative number but wasn't sure. The 1098s I was referring to are for reporting mortgage interest. I received two different ones after I refinanced this year (one for the old loan and one for the current one). The one for the old loan has the number in parenthesis in Box 10. I think I will just leave it as a 0 in Turbotax since the system won't let me put in a negative number in that field.