Your Mortgage Certificate Number isn’t on Form 1098; it’s
found on a Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC).
You can only claim Mortgage Interest Credit if you’ve received a
Mortgage Credit Certificate issued by a state or local governmental unit or
agency under a qualified mortgage credit certificate program.
The IRS requests your mortgage credit certificate number on
Form 8396 so that it can verify your claim to the credit.
If you only received a Form 1098 for the interest that you
paid on your mortgage, and not a Mortgage Credit Certificate, you can’ claim
the Mortgage Interest Credit. However, you
can take an itemized deduction for the amount of mortgage interest you paid.