Get your taxes done using TurboTax

First, adjust your total mortgage down to the $750,000.00.  Also, adjust the interest down to the amount that would apply to $750,000.00 loan amount.

How much mortgage interest can you deduct in 2020? For the 2020 tax year, the mortgage interest deduction limit is $750,000, which means homeowners can deduct the interest paid on up to $750,000 in mortgage debt.

The IRS lets you deduct your mortgage interest, but only if you itemize deductions. You can't deduct the principal (the borrowed money you're paying back).

In addition to itemizing, these conditions must be met for mortgage interest to be deductible:

• The loan is secured, which means the lender has some kind of guarantee of payment, usually in the form of property. If a borrower defaults on payments, the lender can seize the property that’s securing the loan. If you’re buying or refinancing a home, especially if it’s your first home, the loan is usually secured by the home you’re buying or refinancing.
• The home with the secured loan must have sleeping, cooking, and toilet facilities.
• The debt can’t exceed $750,000 (or $1,000,000 if the loan was taken before December 16, 2017) in order to get the full deduction.
• You or someone on your tax return must have signed or co-signed the loan.
• If you rented out the home, you must have used the home more than 14 days during the tax year or 10% of the number of days you rented it out, whichever is greater.

Mortgage interest is usually reported on Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement. After you enter your 1098 in TurboTax, we'll ask a series of follow-up questions to make sure you're qualified to take the deduction.

For tax years 2018 through 2025, you can only deduct the interest from the amount of your loan that was used to buy, build, or improve the home that it’s secured by.

If you’ve ever used part of this loan to pay for things other than this home, you cannot deduct the interest from that amount of the loan, even if the transaction didn’t take place this year.

Don’t worry, we’ll help figure out what amount of interest you can deduct.

Examples of common ways you might have used this money not on your home include:

• Making a down payment on a different home
• Funding improvements on a different home
• Making a payment on a different loan or debt
• Having miscellaneous large purchases

Example: John took out a home equity line of credit on his home on Tuberose Street for $40,000. He used $25,000 to remodel his kitchen and bathrooms in his Tuberose Street home, and $15,000 as a down payment on a second house on Snowdrop Lane. He can only deduct the interest he paid on $25,000 he used to improve his Tuberose Street home.

You cannot claim a mortgage interest deduction unless you itemize your deductions. This requires you to use Form 1040 to file your taxes, and Schedule A to report your itemized expenses. The interest payments and points you pay are combined with all other deductions you claim on Schedule A; the total of which reduces your income that is subject to tax on the second page of your tax return.