topic How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans? in Deductions & credits

How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

marcusmark — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:00:59 GMT

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

Vanessa A — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 16:48:04 GMT

This will go under Interest and Dividends in the section that says Interest from Seller-Financed Loans

To get there, you can go to the search bar and type in Seller-financed loan, then select Jump To. Then walk through the steps to enter the interest paid to you. You will need to enter the Name, address, and SSN of the person who is paying you the interest as well as the amount of interest you received.

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

marcusmark — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 17:09:22 GMT

This helped with actual seller financed loan interest. But I also have mortgage loan interest from a family member which was not the result of a seller finance but rather as a private mortgage. Additionally, I have some family loan interest received which was not associated with a mortgage. Any help will be appreciated.

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

Vanessa A — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 20:25:40 GMT

Any other interest you receive from a loan you made or even from bank interest would be entered in the area where it says Interest on 1099-INT even though you did not get the 1099-INT. This will put it on line 2b of your 1040 form. Your mortgage interest that you received will also end up on line 2b, combined with your private loan interest and any other interest you receive.

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

fredflintstone1 — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 20:29:57 GMT

I have the same issue, so I entered the information as if I have received a 1099-INT from my daughter and son-in-law; however TurboTax issues an error message when I enter my son-in-law's SSN (in SSN format of XXX-XX-XXXX) as the Payer's EIN.

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

BrittanyS — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 23:57:25 GMT

When entering the mortgage interest, make sure to select "the seller is financing this loan and I didn't receive a 1098". (see screenshot below)

This will take you to the private lender screen where you can enter a SSN.

@fredflintstone1

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

fredflintstone1 — Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:08:58 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion, Brittany; however, this is NOT a seller-financed mortgage. My wife and I loaned money to our daughter and son-in-law, so they could buy a house from an unrelated third party.

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

BrittanyS — Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:28:16 GMT

Are you trying to enter the mortgage interest received from your daughter as income on your return? Or are you trying to help her enter the interest she paid on her return?

If she is trying to enter the interest, the selection I gave will open up the private lender option. It does not actual list the loan as a seller finance. See the screenshot of the form below:

If you are trying to add the mortgage interest you receive to your return, Vanessa A provided steps above to help. I have copies her steps here for easy review, "This will go under Interest and Dividends in the section that says Interest from Seller-Financed Loan. To get there, you can go to the search bar and type in Seller-financed loan, then select Jump To. Then walk through the steps to enter the interest paid to you. You will need to enter the Name, address, and SSN of the person who is paying you the interest as well as the amount of interest you received. "

Again, the wording seller-financed is a way for TurboTax to open the private financing option. If you still have questions, please respond and we will continue to help.

@fredflintstone1

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

fredflintstone1 — Sat, 08 Mar 2025 23:06:01 GMT

Hi, Brittany

Thank you for the suggestion. However, when I open the seller-financed option, the headline reads "You receive seller-financed interest only if you sold your home and accepted a trust deed or repayment promise from the buyer." Given that heading, specifically because we did not sell our home to our daughter and son-in-law, it does not seem to be the appropriate place to enter our intra-family mortgage interest.

With apologies for my attention to details. but it still seems to me to be better to report it within a 1099-INT; however, when I take that approach, I get an error message when I use my son-in-law's SSN (in ###-###-#### format).

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Dale

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

DianeW777 — Sat, 08 Mar 2025 23:12:19 GMT

Yes, you can feel free to use the 1099-INT entry. Use your son-in-laws SSN in the name description and do not enter it in the EIN space. Be sure to delete the field when you come to it.

@fredflintstone1

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

fredflintstone1 — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 00:57:16 GMT

Thanks for the guidance, Diane! That approach got rid of the error message. Dale

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

MReidy — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 16:30:39 GMT

I'm having this exact same problem. I don't see how to delete that field. So I keep getting that same error message.

Re: How do I input interest income from private family and mortgage loans?

IsabellaG — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 17:23:48 GMT

I would like to see the screen that you are seeing, where you have to enter an EIN for the interest you received, because I don't see that requirement in my program.

However, in order to see that, I need a diagnostic file which is a copy of your tax return that has all of your personal information removed. You can send one to us by following the directions below:

TurboTax Online:

Sign into your online account.
Locate the Tax Tools on the left-hand side of the screen.
A drop-down will appear. Select Tools
On the pop-up screen, click on “Share my file with agent.”
This will generate a message that a diagnostic file gets sanitized and transmitted to us.
Please provide the Token Number that was generated in the response.

TurboTax Desktop/Download Versions:

Open your return.
Click the Online tab in the black bar across the top of TurboTax and select “Send Tax File to Agent” *
This will generate a message that a diagnostic copy will be created. Click on OK and the tax file will be sanitized and transmitted to us.
Please provide the Token Number (including the dash) that was generated in the response.

*(If using a MAC, go to the menu at the top of the screen, select Help, then, “Send Tax File to Agent”)