I rent out half of my second home. How do I only claim half the mortgage interest and half the real estate taxes?

[DianeW777]

My advice is to enter half in your rental activity and half as itemized deductions (if applicable). This eliminate any concern over having the correct amounts in each part of your tax return.

This statement assumes it really is a 50-50 square feet for the rental portion of your second home. Square feet of rental area divided by the total square feed of the home is the actual calculation used to arrive at the correct percentages for each part.

[ericqia]

Yep it is 50-50. This is what I was planning on doing, so I claim exactly half on both. 

should I check the box “the interest amount I entered is different than what’s on my 1098?”

Technically it will sum up between the two numbers to exactly what is on my 1098. But the two numbers in isolation are different (since one is on schedule E and the other is in my deductions).

i don’t want to accidentally trigger an internal review or create any headaches with filing. 

[AmyC]

No, you do not want to check the box because your two entries do add up to the correct amount. The IRS is matching totals. Checking the box means it is legally incorrect - the bank is wrong, you are splitting with a co-owner, etc.