This is not correct per the guidance from the IRS on what belongs in Box 2 of the 1098. It should be the balance 1/1/2019 for all loans originated prior to the current year and should be the starting balance of the loan for any loan originated in the current year.
Quoted from their guidance document:
Box 2. Outstanding Mortgage Principal
Enter the amount of outstanding principal on the mortgage
as of January 1, 2019. If you originated the mortgage in
2019, enter the mortgage principal as of the date of
origination. If you acquired the mortgage in 2019, enter
the outstanding mortgage principal as of the date of
acquisition.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1098--2019.pdf
Also all incorrectly filling in this field does is bypass the software bug. Unless you are claiming that TurboTax is by design filling in the Tax form with a Yes when I answer No to the question in the wizard?
