Carl
Level 15

Deductions & credits

Since you deal with rental property stuff well before you get to the Deductions and Credits tab, if you elected to have the program do the splits for you, in the SCH E section of the program, you just enter the total amount of mortgage interest and total amount of property taxes, and the program takes care of it for you. It's splits the mortgage interest and property taxes between the SCH E for the period of time it was a rental, and the SCH A for the period of time it was not a rental. That's why it's IMPORTANT to read the small print on every single screen.

You also have the option to do the splits yourself manually.

Take note that regardless of what option you chose, you have to pro-rate the property insurance for the period of time it was a rental. That portion of the property insurance that is for the period of time it was *not* a rental is just flat out not deductible anywhere on the tax return.

Do note that your SCH A itemized deductions have absolutely no impact what-so-ever on your tax liability until the total of all of your allowed itemized deductions exceed your standard deduction. For 90% or more of tax filers, this will never occur.