Married Filing Separately - Mortgage Interest Deductions (Form 1098)

[rst2026]

Hello,

Hoping to get some clarity on how to properly handle mortgage interest deductions in our situation.

Context

• My wife and I are married filing separately.
• I received a 1098 form; mortgage interest is in my name only.
• My wife's name on the title for the property (she is a beneficial owner), but NOT on the 1098. 
• We live in a community property state
• My wife pays 50% of the mortgage payments (thereby paying 50% of the interest).
• Note, our loan originated after 2017 and exceeds $750,000.

A few questions:

1. Can my wife claim 50% of the mortgage interest for deduction, given she pays half and is on the title?
2. Do we each apply a $375K mortgage limit (totaling $750K combined), or is the limit applied differently?
3. How do I appropriately file this using TurboTax? 
   • In Box 1 (Mortgage Interest), should I enter the full amount from the 1098, or do I input 50% and check the "The interest amount I entered is different than what's on my 1098" checkbox?
   • In Box 2 (Outstanding mortgage principal), do I enter the full amount or 50%?
   • When asked to provide the balance as of 1/1/2026, do I enter the full amount or 50%?
4. How does my wife report this since her name is not on the 1098?  Should she manually enter a 1098 with her portion, or is there a better way to claim her share?

We are using TurboTax Online version. I’ve seen references to Schedule A (Lines 8a/8b) and potential limitations in TurboTax Online (vs Desktop version), but would love some guidance/help to point me in the right direction.

[NCperson · Accepted solution]

@rst2026 answers to all questions are "yes"....  seems you are aware that by filing MFS, both must either itemize or both must either take the standard deduction.

Curious: why file MFS?  96% of married couples file JOINT because the laws motivate that behavior. 

is this because of student loan payments? if so, how do you think about whatever loan balance that is foregiven at the end is now taxable income? 

1. yes

2. yes

3. put in 50% / half the amount 

4. manually

[rst2026]

@NCperson  Thanks for the reply. It is for student loan purposes, and as far as we know the loan forgiveness would be tax free (PSLF).

One additional question-- if my wife enters the 1098 manually, I assume this would show up as an entry in Schedule A in row 8a. For her, would it be more appropriate to enter it in 8b somehow (and my entry would be in row 8a)?

[NCperson]

@rst2026 yeah - your 8a / 8b appraoch makes sense.

And PSLF loans remain tax free upon foregiveness (as they are covered under separate laws from the law that just expired).  The rest are all now taxable again- and I wonder if those filing MFS to keep their payments low have considered that in their math.