Can I apply both the property tax and the lot rental fee to the property tax fairness credit for the State of ME?

[athebeau42]

 I am retired and over 70 years old and own my mobile home in ME and pay property tax on it and pay a rental lot fee in the mobile park it is located in

[MaryK1 · Accepted solution]

Yes if you owned a home that was on rented land, you can include the property tax you paid during 2017 on line 4 and the rent you paid during 2017. For example, you owned a mobile home located in a park.  You can enter in TurboTax.

[athebeau42]

Is this answer still affective for Maine on my 2020 taxes?

Also, is there any ability to apply my land rent in my Federal tax return?

[MarilynG1]

@athebeau42 You can claim your Property Tax in your Federal Return, but there is no credit for the lot rental, sorry.

Click this link for more info on How to Enter Personal Property Tax. 

However, if you are not itemizing deductions, this may not affect your tax refund.

[athebeau42]

Thank you for the reply, I did assume that the lot rent was not deductible on the Federal return, but what about the Maine State return?  

The original post indicated that the property tax and lot rental amount should be added together and reported as one value under the Property Tax Fairness box.  But when I printed off the forms it appears that these two values should be reported in two different boxes and only 15% of the lot rental will be used to determine any credit amount for the Property Tax Fairness credit for Maine.  I do not see in the Trubo Tax application how to enter these two different values correctly?

When I enter the sum of the values in the one box the credit is over $700, but when I manually figure the credit using the printed form and separating the value two values the credit is only $50.  Please let me know how to correctly report the information for this credit for 2020 Maine State return..

[ReneeM7122]

@athebeau42

You'll need TurboTax Premier or TurboTax Home & Business to enter rental income and expenses. These versions support the Schedule E you'll need to report rental property.

First, if your rental property is located out-of-state, do this before entering your rental-related income and expenses:

1. Open your return.
2. Select Personal (Premier edition) or Personal Info (Home & Business edition) and continue to the Your Personal Info Summary screen.
3. Scroll down the Personal Info Summary screen until you see the Other State Income.
4. Click on the Edit/Update button next to Other State Income.
5. On the Did (Either of) You Make Money in Any Other States? screen, make sure you checked the box next to Yes, we made money in states other than <yourstate>.
6. Select the state your rental property is located in from the drop-down list, then click Continue.
   If your rental is located in Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, or Wyoming, leave No Entry in the drop-down and click Continue.

This step ensures TurboTax sets up your state programs correctly when it comes time to file your state taxes. (In most cases, you'll need to file a nonresident return for out-of-state rental property. For more details, refer to Nonresident State Tax Returns)

Now -  let's get started!

1. Select Federal Taxes (Business in the Home & Business edition).
   In Online TurboTax Premier, click the bars at the upper left corner to show Federal Taxes on the selection list; enlarge the screen if needed to show the left side selection list. If you don't see the menu bars, you must first step through each of the interview screens in TurboTax.
2. Select Business Income and Expenses and in the next screen, click I'll choose what I work on.
3. On the Your Income Summary screen (TurboTax Premier edition) or the Your Business Income screen (TurboTax Home & Business edition), scroll down to the Rentals and Royalties group.
4. Click Start/Update next to the Rentals and Royalties line and step through the rental interviews to the Your <name> Rental Summary screen.
   If you have more than one rental entered, select the out-of-state property.
5. Click the Start/Update button next to each topic on the Your <name> Rental summary screen to enter your rental income, expenses, assets, depreciation, and vehicle expenses.

Out-of-State Rental Property

Don't forget to file a nonresident return if your rental property is located in a state that collects income tax. TurboTax can easily handle that for you.

Make sure you followed both sets of instructions above. When finished, click State Taxes to get started on your state tax return(s).

Tip:

Prepare your nonresident state return(s) before your resident return so that TurboTax can properly calculate the credit for taxes paid to another state.

[athebeau42]

Thank you for the information, BUT this does NOT answer my questions.....  Please go back and read the original post, no wait I will repost it here now!!! 

"Can I apply both the property tax and the lot rental fee to the property tax fairness credit for the State of ME?

 I am retired and over 70 years old and own my mobile home in ME and pay property tax on it and pay a rental lot fee in the mobile park it is located in   "

The original reply referenced 2017 taxes.  I am asking if this still applies in the State of Me for 2020 taxes and. of so, how do you enter the two values to get the property tax fairness credit calculated correctly.

Hope this is more clear this time and I can get and educated correct answer.

I have used Turbo Tax for over 10 years to do my taxes and have never had an issue until this year, but if I cannot get this corrected I may have to find a different option to complete my taxes in coming years.

[athebeau42]

 I am retired and over 70 years old and own my mobile home in ME and pay property tax on it and pay a rental lot fee in the mobile park it is located in   "

The original reply referenced 2017 taxes.  I am asking if this still applies in the State of Me for 2020 taxes and. of so, how do you enter the two values to get the property tax fairness credit calculated correctly.

Hope this is more clear this time and I can get and educated correct answer.

I have used Turbo Tax for over 10 years to do my taxes and have never had an issue until this year, but if I cannot get this corrected I may have to find a different option to complete my taxes in coming years.

[MarilynG1]

Click this link for info on How to Claim the Property Tax Fairness Credit  in Maine. 

If you paid property tax or rent on your primary residence in Maine during the tax year, you should be eligible for the credit.  There are two separate entries for Property Tax and Rent on the Schedule PTFC, so you should enter each amount separately.  

Lot Rent is not normally considered 'Property Tax' as it is not based on the value of your mobile home. 

For more details, see details from the Maine Revenue Department.