AnnetteB
Intuit Alumni

Deductions & credits

As you go through your tax return entering income first and then deductions, you will encounter the information for your business before mortgage interest.

When you go through the business section of your return, first you will specify that your business is a daycare.  Then, you will designate portions of your home as your “home office”.  There are specific questions related to what areas of your home are dedicated to your business and what areas are used partially for your business, since your business is a daycare. 

Taking the step-by-step approach to entering your home office expenses, you will see a series of questions about your “home office” expenses.  Each step of the way will give you guidance about whether to enter the total amount or a prorated amount if the deduction can be split between your business and personal use.  In many cases, TurboTax will do the math for you and the information on your screen will remind you of that. 

Part of the questions you see will be about your home mortgage interest.  The instructions on the screen state that you should enter the total mortgage interest amount in the business section of your tax return.  TurboTax will do the math to allocate the mortgage interest between your business and personal deductions.  You will not need to enter it again when you go to the deductions section of the tax return. 

As you continue through the return, there will be information on the screen about what portion is used for your business and what portion is transferred to your personal deductions. 

Take a look at the picture below for a visual reference of the input screen you should see within the business section of your return.   

 


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