I have input information into the "Mortgage Interest" section for rental properties 8 times. It shows the information, but still says "not started" on the edit page.

[manelson]

The same thing happened to me and more until I received a major turbotax update.  Don't know if this is the case for you or not, but if your software is not updating properly through windows and your systems protection software is blocking/may be preventing an update.  A temporary disable may help with a full update, but you can always go to the intuit/turbotax website and download the update directly from their site; it worked for me.

[LinaJ2020]

If you are filing with TurboTax online, let's do these steps: 

• Check your internet connection.  Try to log out and sign back in the program. 
• Clear your cache and sign back into the program.  To clear cache, click here: Cache
• You may also try a different browser.  
• Then try again. 

If you are referring to a rental situation, you should not enter any of the mortgage interest amount on your Schedule A.  You should ONLY enter the Form 1098 mortgage interest amount under the Rental.  The program will then allocate and pro-rate the mortgage interest between rental and personal based on the information of percentage of usage you provided.  The amounts should be allocated correctly on your tax returns.  ( Schedule E for rental and schedule A for personal)

If you own a rental property, the IRS allows you to deduct expenses you pay for the upkeep and maintenance of the property, conserving and managing the property, and other expenses deemed necessary and associated with property rental.  To learn more, click here: Rental deductions

To enter mortgage interest and point information on your rental ( schedule E), here are the steps:

In TurboTax online,

• After sign into your account, select Pick up where you left off
• At the right upper corner, in the search box, type in schedule e and Enter 
• Select Jump to schedule e
• Follow prompts

[ptc3bluedevil]

The same thing is happening to us (using TurboTax online).  Since it's the online software, I don't think the issue could be fixed by a software update.  All instructions I can find state that this expense (mortgage interest for a rental property for which we had no personal use) should be part of the Schedule E and not the Schedule A.  But unfortunately, TurboTax online is not giving us the option to enter in the Schedule E, but is instead of routing that mortgage interest to the Schedule A.

[manelson]

The information should be entered in the wages and income tab in rental property and royalties, ensure you have a profile for your home and enter the mortgage interest in the expenses section, there is a screen for entering mortgage interest.

[manelson]

If you are receiving any errors when you open the program or when you update the software, then I can only refer you to my previous email.  If you have a profile set up for your home under the rental area, then it should work, however if the info is also placed in other areas, there may be a conflict.  Look at how you answered the questions when you set up a home profile....Otherwise, I would suggest calling for tech assist for software issues.

[gloriah5200]

We had a huge update to the TurboTax software on 2/19/21.  

Please update the software in your computer, reload your return and go through the mortgage section again.

Please update if you are still having difficulties and need additional help.

[Freiborg]

I am getting this same error using TurboTax Premier Online.  I have created the rental property profile and it allows me to enter the expenses: Real Estate Taxes, Mortgage Interest and Miscellaneous.  But Utilities, Insurance Premiums and Supplies just sit at 'Not Started'.  The value that is entered is saved when the  Start button is pressed so the values are being saved, just not applied as an expense.  So the Profit/Loss of the rental property is not being calculated correctly.

[JamesG1]

I was able to create a residential rental in TurboTax Online Premier.  Mortgage interest and real estate taxes seem to post correctly.

At the screen Report mortgage interest, did you select I also paid mortgage insurance on my form 1098?

At the screen Did you refinance in 2020, did you select Yes?

[Freiborg]

I cleared out my taxes and started over.  I was going down the list of of rental expenses and they were all being added and listed in the expenses section.  I got to the mortgage interest and I added my interest.  After I finished and the software went back to the list of rental expenses and the ones I had just entered were zeroed out and the buttons went back to the Started state.  I did not check any boxes under the three boxes where the amount is entered.  This rental was newly purchased in February and wasn't placed in service until April.  I removed the mortgage interest and the other expenses reappeared.  Same thing happened when I entered several miscellaneous expenses.

[manelson]

If you have entered mortgage interest for your home under the Federal Deductions tab, then it's duplicating and entries will be removed from from other sections.  Look at how you answered the rental questions, dates that you started rental, and make sure that you only enter the expenses once; don't duplicate rental expenses, such as mortgage interest in other areas, there is a note/info on what you can/can't do....

[Freiborg]

It's not duplicated anywhere.  This is not specific to mortgage interest as the problem also occurs when I have yet to add in the mortgage interest but add several miscellaneous expenses.  The other expenses also disappear when the miscellaneous expenses are added in.  There is an error in the code somewhere that is causing this.  Could be because this is a new rental purchase that does not have a full year of ownership and the rental availability is not equal to the full ownership duration as it took a month to get the house ready to rent out.  I have tried several other online tax software packages and I was able to correctly finish my taxes.  Being a software developer for a living, I am curious as to why this doesn't work when other company's products do work.

[MarilynG1]

@Freiborg Check your Rental Property Info to verify the entries there, such as Date You Started Using for Business and your Ownership %.  Be sure to indicate that you 'Actively Participate'  in the rental activity. 

Make sure the property is entered as an Asset in that section.  The 'less than a year ownership' has nothing to do with your issue. 

When TurboTax asks if the 'property was available for rent all year', say Yes, as this means all year from the date you specified it was available for rent. 

You could try clearing cache/cookies and opening TurboTax in another browser.

Click this link for more info on Entering Rental Income/Expenses. 

[ptc3bluedevil]

I think it may just be a UI error in the intermediate worksheet of the online version.  Because even though it displays as "Not Started" on that page, the value I entered clearly saved and is there when I open it back up.  Then I manually calculated the total rental property's profit/loss, and that seems to be correctly calculated when I look at the total results of the Schedule E being integrated into the rest of the tax return.  So I think the underlying numbers are correct, but there's a UI bug preventing that one entry from being displayed.

[SM0523]

I am running into the same problem. Are you able to resolve the issue? If yes, how you did it?