Sold & Bought Home Program won't allow me to deduct mortgage interest

[AEPratt]

Hi,

I sold my home and bought another in 2019.  I also had a bridge loan for a month or so.  All the loans except my final mortgage were paid off in 2019 with my final outstanding mortgage balance of $556,052. The program keeps adjusting me back to a standard deduction because it thinks I have over $1Million in mortgage balances, even though I have checked the box that confirms that I do not.  Please advise how to override the program so that I can take the interest deduction & itemized deduction, or how to fix my entry.  Thanks

[DianeC958]

Please review your answers in the Deductions and Credits>Your Home>Mortgage Interest, Refinancing and Insurance.

Review your answers on this page

Make sure the box is checked at the bottom of the page.

If after reviewing the answers you still are being directed to take the Standard Deduction you may need to delete your mortgage information and put it back in again.

[NCperson]

if your AVERAGE mortgage balance is over $750,000, then the interest is limited. 

for the mortgages that are paid off, are you using $0 as the ending balance????

are you sure that is what is taking you back to standard deduction...it just doesn't 'feel right'.

[Flysouth]

I have the same exact issue - I have four 1098 for the same mortgage that is (much) less than $750k, but TurboTax keeps defaulting me back to the selection that says I had >$750k in mortgage balance.  Lender A had it until April 2019, then my mortgage was sold to Lender B.  Lender B had it until early December, when I refinanced with Lender C, which promptly sold it to Lender D.

I tried the proposed fix and the 1098 from Lenders A through C all have the check mark saying it was paid off in 2019.  Still, every time I close out of the Mortgage Interest, Refinancing, and Insurance section it reverts me back to the selection saying I had >$750k in mortgage balance.

Any other suggestions?

[tuffykeechy]

I am also having the exact same problem - 4 different 1098s for the same mortgage that are less than $750K (just like yours), and TurboTax keeps limiting the interest even though it should not be.  Have you figured it out yet?

[Flysouth]

No - plus I posted in this thread  (https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-credits-deductions/discussion/mortgage-interest-deduction-limi...) I now get different refund amounts depending on which "workaround" I use.  Really shakes my confidence in this system.

TurboTax silence on this is very concerning.

[KrisD15]

@tuffykeechy

If your loans were under the federal limit, select "Yes" to get to the adjustment screen and then enter the entire amount of interest (the amount listed as the original amount). 

The software was programmed to accommodate the changes made for Home Mortgage Interest; however, the reporting instructions for the 1098 changed for tax year 2019 and not all lenders reported the form correctly. For example, for 2018, if the loan originated in 2018, box 2 was left blank. For 2019, if the loan originated in 2019, box 2 should report the amount of the loan on the day it originated. Box 2 should never be blank.