New home purchase, three borrowers on loan?

[sweetsimplicityx]

My husband, father-in-law, and myself are all on the loan for the new home we purchased last year. My husband and I are planning to file as married/jointly with dependents. My father-in-law, however, has separate taxes but he'll obviously need to put in that he purchased a house. How does this process work? Do we all file separately as normal? Is only one person allowed to claim that credit? Sorry, I've never owned a home, therefore have never had to file taxes including that information, not sure how it works. 

[Rachel_W]

Yes, you and your husband will continue filing a joint tax return together and your father-in-law will continue to file his own separate tax return as normal.  

The purchase of a new home does not need to be reported on a buyer's tax return.  

You can deduct mortgage interest, points, and real estate property tax paid at closing and throughout the year for your home.  Keep in mind, these deductions can only be claimed on your tax return or your father-in-laws' tax return, not both. These deductions will be claimed on Schedule A if you are itemizing your deductions.  You can click the link to this TurboTax FAQ for more information: What is Schedule A?  

You will receive a Form 1098 from your mortgage company in the next few weeks reporting what they have on record for what you paid in mortgage interest and real estate taxes for 2018.  You should also review your settlement papers to see if you paid any additional mortgage interest, points or real estate taxes not reported on your Form 1098.

Any other costs paid at closing, including transfer taxes, "stamps", escrow fees, etc., are NOT deductible on your Tax Return; instead, you will add them to the cost basis of your home and you will get the benefit when you sell.

I know this is a lot of information to "digest", so please comment below if I can assist you further.

[sweetsimplicityx]

Thanks for clarifying that. We just received our form for the mortgage and are waiting for a few more for various things, but I'll be sure to let my husband know that we should be the ones to claim those deductions.