Mortgage Interest Worksheet requiring "Refi" entry

[Kentucky738571]

I am entering my Mortgage Interest as noted on my 1098, stepping through each screen in TurboTax as I have every year.  I enter my financial information, there's no points to deduct, it's my most recent (only) 1098, and I come to the screen where I am asked if the loan is a HELOC or a refinance.  It is neither, so I select "This loan is neither of these."

After completing the remainder of my tax forms, Smart Check runs for my Federal Return, and finds the error "Home Mortgage Interest Worksheet (Name of Mortgage Holder Redacted):  Refi must be entered."  I have options of "No entry," "Refinance Yes," and "Refinance No."

Given those options, I selected Refinance No, but got suspicious of this extra step so I went back and checked my 1098 entry section again.  TurboTax has changed The HELOC/Refinance entry screen to now say "This loan is a refinance of a previous loan."  It definitely is not.

If I change the entry back to "This loan is neither of these," Smart Check kicks out the error again.  If I select "No entry," Smart Check continues to fail.  The only way I've found to continue is to check the "Refinance No" option in Smart Check, but that makes an erroneous change to my actual 1098 entry.  I am not sure how to proceed with correct information and a clean Smart Check.

[BrittanyS]

I have tried to duplicate your smart check error and am not having the same issue if I mark, "this loan is neither of these."  I would like to take a deeper look at this. However, I need a diagnostic file which is a copy of your tax return that has all of your personal information removed. You can send one to us by following the directions below:

TurboTax Online:

1. Sign into your online account.
2. Locate the Tax Tools on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. A drop-down will appear. Select Tools
4. On the pop-up screen, click on “Share my file with agent.”
5. This will generate a message that a diagnostic file gets sanitized and transmitted to us.
6. Please provide the Token Number that was generated in the response.

TurboTax Desktop/Download Versions:

1. Open your return.
2. Click the Online tab in the black bar across the top of TurboTax and select “Send Tax File to Agent” *
3. This will generate a message that a diagnostic copy will be created.  Click on OK and the tax file will be sanitized and transmitted to us.
4. Please provide the Token Number (including the dash) that was generated in the response.

*(If using a MAC, go to the menu at the top of the screen, select Help, then, “Send Tax File to Agent”)

[Kentucky738571]

Thank you for your assistance; I have the sanitized copy generated and was provided a token.  Do I provide that token to you via a private message?

[BrittanyS]

You can provide the token to this thread. 

[Kentucky738571]

The forum logic is detecting the token number as a phone number, and redacting it.  Hopefully this will make sense:

10836(NINE)5440(HYPHEN)0773(TWO)213

[Kentucky738571]

Without filing yet, I generated a PDF of my return, so I could look at my 1040 Schedule A manually.

The lines pertaining to my mortgage (8-10) do not make any reference to a refinance.  Even though TurboTax is displaying incorrectly in the workflow, I assume this is just determining whether my interest payments qualify for a deduction.  I'm a little uncomfortable with an error in TurboTax, but it doesn't seem to affect the Schedule A in any way.  

When I launched tonight, I was notified of a critical update--I was hopeful it was addressing this issue, but it didn't.

[kristinelewis200]

I have same error message when running check return.  The check asks me to indicate refi yes no or blank on my two mortgage interest 1098's worksheet for my 2020 loan which was also transferred to another company during 2024.  Neither is a refi for my home loan originated in 2020. Line A on the worksheet for the older 1098, not most recent, is checked that it was refinanced in 2024. It was not refinanced, only transferred, and I answered the step-by-step questions that it was not refinanced.  I am inclined to ignore this worksheet error that does not affect the forms to be filed.

[SharonD007]

Thank you for the diagnostic file.  We are investigating this issue and will get back to you.

@Kentucky738571 

[SharonD007]

We are currently working on an enhancement for your concern.  Although the box is checked that the mortgage loan is refinanced on the detail screen of the mortage loan after the review, the Mortgage Worksheet is correct and it has no impact on Schedule A.

@Kentucky738571 

@kristinelewis200 

[askhar]

I've also had the same issue with the Premier Desktop version. It's annoying and a waste of time. 

[algorban]

I have the same issue in the desktop version of TurboTax Delux. Will this issue ever be fixed?

[algorban]

As a workaround, one can go to the Home Mortgage Interest Worksheet form and manually check all required boxes.