I paid property tax on Jan 1, 2020 - which year do I claim it?

[GottaPayMyTaxes]

Hi all,

I think I know the answer to this, but will ask to be sure.  I had a mortgage until about August of 2019. My mortgage company made the first two property tax payments of the year on my behalf, and then i made another tax payment myself in Sep 2019.

However, rather than make the fourth 2019 payment in December, I made the payment on 1/1/2020.

My Form 1098 from the mortgage company only shows the two payments they made.

Should I add ONLY the third payment only to my final property tax amount in TT, or should I also add the one made on Jan 1 2020?

One final related question: does the response apply at the state level as well?  Because I am in a high-tax state, including the fourth payment in 2019 does not help me on the federal level, but helps on my state refund. (Does the IRS receive the property tax info from the state? If yes, then I assume that I should be sure to report the same amount that the state is reporting to the IRS - no?)

Thanks!

[VolvoGirl]

You report it the year you actually paid it, so it goes on your 2020 return next year.  

[GottaPayMyTaxes]

Thanks @VolvoGirl

One final related question: does the response apply at the state level as well? Because I am in a high-tax state, including the fourth payment in 2019 does not help me on the federal level, but helps on my state refund. (Does the IRS receive the property tax info from the state? If yes, then I assume that I should be sure to report the same amount that the state is reporting to the IRS - no?)

[VolvoGirl]

Yes it is the same for state.  You have to plan ahead if you wNt to bunch your deductions into the same year.  That's  how people used to do it before the Standard Deduction was increased.  I would pay 3 parts of property tax (April and 2 in Nov for both Nov and the next April)  to get a big deduction one year then less the next year.

[Opus 17]

Most taxpayers use "cash based" accounting.  Income is recorded when you actually receive it, regardless of when it was earned, and deductions are recorded when you actually paid them, regardless of when they are due.

(Businesses may sometimes use accrual based accounting, but this is complicated and requires an accountant to help you set up.  If you have to ask, you aren't an accrual based taxpayer.)