Thank you for your response.
No, could not be a carryover because this is my first year using TurboTax. I purposely input the minimum information necessary to run the return in order to protect my privacy as much as possible. That is why I am alarmed to see that the mortgage worksheet had information that I did not provide.
Did TurboTax use my social security number to pull that information from my bank or my credit report?
Okay, so you didn't enter the ending balance when entering the 1098 but are you sure that you didn't enter the mortgage balance on another screen? Turbo Tax does ask for the ending balance when the the beginning balance you did enter on the 1098 page is more than $750 K and the the origination date is after Dec 15, 2017 or when the interest deduction may be limited. Is it possible that you entered the balance under one of these conditions?
Thanks for your thoughts, but no, I did not enter the mortgage balance anywhere (on purpose) and the program went ahead and properly used the mortgage interest I entered for schedule A without requiring any additional information.
The only way I knew that a mortgage principal balance was being used was when I saw it on the mortgage interest worksheet. Again, I did NOT input anything to do with a mortgage balance on any forms and this is my first year of using Turbotax so it can't be from a prior Turbotax year.
I cannot imagine how Intuit got my mortgage principal balance if I never input it on any form and this is very alarming as to the privacy of my data if it is coming from an outside source. Where are they getting this information if I didn't give it to them? Who can tell me?
You look to be using desktop software. If so, click on Forms up top and then view your Mortgage Interest worksheet. What color is the data? This chart will tell you, based on the color of the text, how the information was provided. TurboTax requires the principal balance and loan origination date to calculate the deduction.
Thank you for your help and yes, you are correct that I am using the desktop software.
I looked at the worksheet in form view as you advised and I found that the bank name, interest, mortgage balance, and mortgage origination date are all in blue. HOWEVER, as I keep writing, I filled in ONLY the mortgage interest amount (and bank name) and nothing else. I know this for sure because all input to Turbotax was from my own tax data input sheets which I have used for years from Lacerte (before I retired) and I do not enter anything on my input sheets from the 1098 form other than the annual interest amount and in this case the bank name which I knew without looking.
The question remains, how did Intuit or Turbotax obtain the mortgage balance and the date of the original loan since I absolutely, positively did not give it to them? Who would know for sure?
Intuit owns both Lacerte and TurboTax but I don't know about any crossover. You are the first to mention anything like this, that I have seen. Intuit is always testing things, trying to improve all products - no idea what they are doing at those top levels - way above my pay grade!