Mortgage interest entered in turbo tax is different than what was generated on line 10 of schedule A for <500k single loan. Why was the actual amount entered reduced?

[thomaselliott728]

I only own the one loan. I'm trying to understand what would have limited the deduction, and why turbo tax is showing a different value online than what was actually entered in the form.

[DawnC]

Here is the list of requirements for deducting the mortgage interest.  You may have answered one of the questions differently than expected or forgot to answer a question or may have not entered every line item from your 1098.  You should carefully review your answers in that entire section as it does sound like you qualify to deduct all of your interest.  

The IRS lets you deduct your mortgage interest, but only if you itemize deductions. You can't deduct the principal (the borrowed money you're paying back).

In addition to itemizing, these conditions must be met for mortgage interest to be deductible:

• The loan is secured, which means the lender has some kind of guarantee of payment, usually in the form of property. If a borrower defaults on payments, the lender can seize the property that’s securing the loan. If you’re buying or refinancing a home, especially if it’s your first home, the loan is usually secured by the home you’re buying or refinancing.
• The home with the secured loan must have sleeping, cooking, and toilet facilities.
• The debt can’t exceed $750,000 (or $1,000,000 if the loan was taken before December 16, 2017) in order to get the full deduction.
• You or someone on your tax return must have signed or co-signed the loan.
• If you rented out the home, you must have used the home more than 14 days during the tax year or 10% of the number of days you rented it out, whichever is greater.

For tax years 2018 through 2025, you can only deduct the interest from the amount of your loan that was used to buy, build, or improve the home that it’s secured by.  If you’ve ever used part of this loan to pay for things other than this home, you cannot deduct the interest from that amount of the loan, even if the transaction didn’t take place this year.

Don’t worry, we’ll help figure out what amount of interest you can deduct.

Examples of common ways you might have used this money, not on your home include:

• Making a downpayment on a different home
• Funding improvements on a different home
• Making a payment on a different loan or debt
• Having miscellaneous large purchases