I bought a duplex this year and we live on one side and rent our the other; how do I report property taxes for the rental?

[erica-rocco722]

When asked what the property tax is for the rental property, do I count the property tax for the entire property or do I divide that in half since only have of the property is rented and we live on the other half?

[BMcCalpin · Accepted solution]

You could prorate your property tax (and your mortgage interest, too) and enter them in Schedule E and Schedule A as appropriate, but it's easier to let TurboTax do it for you.

First, add your "business" (that is, your rental propriety). Then proceed through the Property Profile.

On the screen entitled "Do Any of These Situations Apply to This Property?", check the box with "I rent out a unit in a multi-unit property (like a duplex) where I live". This will trigger the Software to ask you later on the screen entitled "Let Us Calculate Your Expense Deductions for You" how you want to divide the expenses. The easy way is to check the box for "Yes, I will enter total amounts and let TurboTax do the math."

If you enter 50% (if the two units are the same size), this will cause TurboTax to divide the expenses up correctly. When you get to it, be sure to enter 365 for personal use days.

Add your property tax and mortgage interest to your Schedule E first. Use the total amounts.

This means that you should not enter amounts for mortgage interest or property tax on Schedule A, because it will automatically come over from Schedule E.