Mortgage Interest deduction issue or a bug in the software

[chief54]

My wife and I had a loan for our primary house that was taken out in 2020.  In November of 2021 the house was completed, we took out a conventional mortgage and paid off the construction load.  We have received the 1099's from the bank for both loans.  The amount Box 2, Outstanding Balance, on the construction loan is obviously zero.  However, Turbotax will not accept a zero balance as an entry in this box, even if I type in 0.00.  Is this a bug in the software or am I missing something?

[PatriciaV]

Please clarify what version of TurboTax you are using.
Have you tried deleting the 1098 entries and entering again?
You should be able to enter zero for the mortgage balance.

[PatriciaV]

Please clarify what version of TurboTax you are using.
Have you tried deleting the 1098 entries and entering again?
You should be able to enter zero for the mortgage balance.

[chief54]

Patricia:

I am using TurboTax 2021, WinPerRelease 21.000.0407

I just deleted the 1098 in the Step-By-Step section of the program, re-entered the information and again got the following error message: 'Outstanding Mortgage Principal Must Have A Value'.  FYI, I enter 0.00 in this box.

[Mike9241]

box 2 is supposed to be the balance at the beginning of 2021.

 from 1098 instructions: Box 2. Shows the outstanding principal on the mortgage as of January 1 of the
calendar year. If the mortgage originated in the calendar year, shows the
mortgage principal as of the date of origination. If the recipient/lender acquired
the loan in the calendar year, shows the mortgage principal as of the date of
acquisition.

[chief54]

Thanks Mike.

What you wrote clarifies things a bit.  My dilemma is that we took out the construction loan in 2020 but did not take a draw on it until after 1/1/202, therefore the reason Box 2 is zero. Can we still deduct the interest on our tax return. I can enter zero on the worksheet just not in the step-by-step section.