@ReneeM7122
Thank you for differentiating between Refinance and loans that have been sold to subsequent lenders where the loan is not actually paid off, but simply transferred to another "owner" of the loan.
However, the advice you gave to combine the amounts from multiple 1098s instead of using the Smart Worksheet for each 1098 in the case of Refinance once or more times in the year seems to be a good way for people to make mistakes and wind up ultimately not matching what was reported to IRS by multiple lenders during the course of the year.
My husband found the step by step advice you posted to combine interest from original and refinanced loan(s) in another thread when we were trying to figure out what to do because I noticed the error (unfortunately trusting the process of TurbTax accurately leading me to "most deductions possible" through the "Guide Me...") AFTER e-filing my Federal Return. The day after filing, I was looking over my Schedule A, and was astonished to find the mortgage entry about $4,000 LESS than what I had calculated! When I looked at the PDF of the worksheets attached to my form 1098, there was NO explanation of why my interest was limited.
Once I started reading the posts of so many frustrated folks who have been dealing with this last year and again this year, I'm just really wondering why TurboTax hasn't come up with a better solution!
In yet another thread, I discovered that I have to return my information to what it was before I discovered and fixed the error because I already e-filed and TT doesn't know how to take the new information and adjust all of the forms. This has been so frustrating! I am now in the process of starting over with a brand new data file, so I can file an amendment directly to IRS instead of through TT, and then file an accurate return with my State.
