I purchased a second home in 2016. What closing costs are deductible. I paid 4th quarter assessments / fees to the condo association and paid 2 months of property taxes

[DianeW · Accepted solution]

Buying a second home usually does offer tax benefits because you are allowed to use mortgage interest and property taxes, sometimes mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) as itemized deductions on your tax return.

If there are any property taxes paid either by escrow in the mortgage or by yourself be sure to include those with the prorated share of property tax on the settlement.

• Do not include amounts paid to escrow each month, this is money put aside to pay the taxes when they are due.
• Condo association fees are not a deductible expense 

You can go directly to itemized deductions by following these steps (TurboTax online):

1. Sign into your TurboTax account and select your current return

2. Select My Account in the top Right 

3. Select Tools

4. Select Topic Search (see attached image)

4. Search for itemized deductions and select Go

This will take you to the interview process for your property tax deductions.

You can go directly to enter the information using these steps (TurboTax desktop).

1. Use the Search box in the upper right

2. Search for itemized deductions

3. Jump to itemized deductions

4. Follow the screens to enter your deductions.  You can also search by any category.