I do not see that option anywhere, nor do I see anywhere other than the Mortgage Interest screen where it says it'll auto calculate anything. It seems TurboTax assumes the rental property we have is a separate property when in fact it's a bedroom in our house.
Here is precisely what I am seeing:
Deductions & Credits
In this section, I see 2 sections which apply to our mortgage 1098 form: Mortgage Interest/Refinancing and Property (Real Estate) Taxes. I enter in the amounts exactly as they appear in our 1098 form, in full. There is no mention of potentially having to divide this up based on any set of unique circumstances, which I wouldn't really expect to see in this section anyway.
Next, I head back to Wages & Income. I work through Rental Properties and Royalties (Sch E).
*I indicate I am not a real estate professional.
*I enter in the rental income section which makes perfect sense. No issues there.
*In the expenses section is where the confusion comes in. I choose to walk through everything.
*I then have the option to enter in my amounts for advertising, supplies, utilities, maintenance expenses, repair expenses, management expenses, legal expenses, commission expenses, travel expenses, and insurance premiums. I don't understand the difference between "knowing my total expense" vs "having a list" when it just asks me to put in the amount anyway if I choose list. Second, none of these screens indicate whether I should be pro-rating anything or whether it's done automatically. That's my exact issue.
It continues to be the same problem once I get to the next sections: Report real estate taxes. The exact quote in this section says, "Enter the real estate taxes paid on your rental property." Ok, so does that mean pro-rated or the full amount? When I click on learn more, it tells me, "If your property taxes are included in your monthly mortgage payment, find your total real estate taxes paid on the mortgage interest statement your lender sent you." Ok, so is that the full amount again? It does not indicate.
When I get to the area where it's asking me to report the mortgage interest, I do see a line finally that says "TurboTax will allocate your personal portion of qualified interest over to to the deduction section for you." Ok, that's great! But is that just for the interest on this one screen only?
There is nothing whatsoever about using percentages based on square footage, or anything like that anywhere that I am seeing.
Thank you for the continued guidance.
