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Level 2

Question

1098 Form Box 2 Blank

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
February 10, 2020
4 replies
1 view

Hi everyone.

We have 3 1098 forms. We sold our home in May of 2019 but closed on our new home in April of 2019.

Our initial home loan was sold to another company 2 weeks after we closed. Looking at the initial 1098 for the new home, box 2 (outstanding mortgage principal) is blank. TT is telling me it needs a value. Can I put a $0 in the box? I just don’t want to make a mistake.

Thank you!

Mortgage Interest

DavidS127

Level 13

If TurboTax is asking for a value, the value is $0.

The box 2 for your new home purchase should be blank, because there was no balance on this loan as of 1/1/2019. You should leave that box 2 blank in TurboTax (per Learn More link) and be sure to enter the mortgage origination date in box 3.

For the second loan on your new house, it should also be blank, and also enter the mortgage origination date in box 3.

Note that when another company buys your mortgage it is not a refinance. So for both the first and second 1098 on the new home, you want to choose answers "No" (Was this loan paid off or refinanced with a different lender in 2019" and "No, this is the original loan I used to buy or build my home".

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gwen29

Level 2

I have a 1098 form which lists mortgage interest. Box 2 outstanding mortgage is $0.00. This is a time share property mortgage and was paid off / transferred to a different timeshare mortgage. I have input the info. from that 1098 form. My turbo tax program will not allow me to proceed. The message is must have amount input. It will not accept 0.00

ToddL99

Level 13

I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM, DOESN'T ALLOW LEAVE BLANK AND "0".

Enter "$1" as the "outstanding mortgage principal" amount (Box 2, Form 1098 Mortgage Interest). This will not have any effect on your tax calculation and will not generate an error in either TurboTax or with the IRS, From an economic perspective, it is accurate - you owed virtually nothing on this mortgage at the end of 2020.

There are many places in TurboTax where you must make a non-zero entry, primarily to let the program know that you answered the question and that the answer makes some sense.

In this case, entering "$1" tells the program that you didn't forget to answer the question and that you had at least some amount of a mortgage loan balance to justify claiming an interest deduction.

See What do I do if I have multiple 1098s from refinancing my home debt? for additional detail on this issue.

@TANFENG

McicaleAuthor

Level 2

Our other 1098 for the new house has the balance listed in box 2. Which is why I can confused.

DMarkM1

Level 15

If there is an amount listed in box 2 of your 1098 enter it into TurboTax; if not, enter "0".

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Mhalblom

Level 2

There are two different answers to the questions we are asking -

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/my-form-1098-box2-is-blank-and-system-will-not-let-me-move-forward-with-0-error-message-outstanding/00/231842

KrisD15 is saying If this is a new loan and the Lender left box 2 blank, enter the amount of the loan on the first day in 2019 when you acquired it.

So this is confusing when one person is saying to enter "0" and another person is saying to enter our original loan amount.

5haughtons

Level 3

I have the same question regarding blank Box 2 on 1098.
My 1098 is for an Equity Line loan.
TT will not accept me entering 0 for Box 2.
I wonder how much work this is worth, since the interest amount is very small--$7.54.

DianeC958

Level 12

You can put $1 in for the beginning balance and then move forward so you can deduct the interest on the loan.

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mambata1200

Level 2

I have a1098 form ( Mortgage interest -for Home equity line of credit with a zero in box 2 (-Outstanding principal balance. ) When I key in zero in Turbo tax , Turbo wont accept a "0". I called my bank , thought my 1098 form is wrong... and they said in the beginning of the year as of 01/01/2020 the principal balance is zero which they reported in IRS.

If I enter zero in Turbo , I cannot move forward and the message says I have enter a figure not zero.

Please advise, how to mitigate this and move forward in processing my 2020 Income tax.

Thank you.

Cynthiad66

Level 14

Please try this:

Per IRS Form 1098-Mortgage, instructions for Box 2:

Shows the outstanding principal on the mortgage as of January 1, 2020.
If the mortgage originated in 2020, use the mortgage principal as of the date of origination.
If the recipient/lender acquired the loan in 2020, use the mortgage principal as of the date of acquisition.

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