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New Member
posted Jun 6, 2019 2:18:58 AM

I bought my home last year that also includes a rental apt on the second floor. For the rental, do I enter 1/2 of insurance cost and mortgage interest?

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1 Replies
Level 15
Jun 6, 2019 2:19:00 AM

Depends on what you select in the program. basically, you own what is referred to as a duplex rental, where you live in one of the units as your primary residence. What you need to do is work through the program the way it is designed and intended to be used. It's even more important in your case, that you read the small print on each screen. The small print matters for you - big time.

As you start working through the rental section for the first time, you'll of course select the option for "Multi-Family" type of unit. Then on the 2nd screen you select two options at least. The first being "2016 is the first year I rented out this property" and the other selection being "I rent out a unit in a multi-unit property (like a duplex) where I live". Then press on.

 Now, I just can not seem to stress this enough to people. Capitalization is for emphasis on just how important this is. From this point on in the program READ THE SMALL PRINT! ALL OF IT! It matters, big time. Some screens will ask you to enter total expenses for the entire property. Other screens will ask you to enter the expense that relates to the rental unit only. When you get to the point where the program asks you about calculating the rental expense deductions, I highly recommend you elect to have the program do it for you. But even so, there are some things the program just can't do, and that's why it's so important to read the small print on every single screen. Also, pay attention to detail. Some screens say "select the one that applies" while other screens may say "select ALL that apply". So don't get tripped up on that.

When you are done with this and continue working through the program you "may" find that when you get to the "your home" section under the Deductions & Credits tab, a lot of the information is already filled in. That's because you indicated in the rental portion that you own a multi family unit, and live in one of the units. If done right, the program will populate those things in the "Your Home" section for you, that it can populate.