Points

[tlight]

I purchased my home on 5/10/2019.  The tax program note states "If you purchased your home in 2019 or refinanced it to make improvements, we'll deduct all of your points on your current return rather than amortize them over the life of the loan"

My Turbo Tax product will not permit me to take the total deduction for points and insist on amortizing my points.  How do I correct this?

[VictoriaD75]

Follow these steps to add points paid:

1. Under the Federal menu, choose Deductions & Credits
2. Click Edit/Add next to Mortgage Interest and Refinancing (Form 1098)
3. Click Review next to the correct lender
4. Verify the lender, click Continue
5. Answer the question Do any of these uncommon situations apply, click Continue
6. Verify the entries on the 1098 (this does not include the points) and click Continue
7. Now you are at the points screen, answer the question appropriately. You will likely choose the first option, We paid points... The mortgage origination date is know based on the information entered on the previous screen for the 1098. Click Continue
8. On this screen, provide the information about the points you paid. Click Continue.

The tax treatment of these points will depend on the loan. If such points paid on a mortgage were for the purchase or improvement of a personal residence, they may be deducted in the year they are paid. Points paid to refinance a home mortgage are not deductible when paid, but must be capitalized and the deduction spread over the life of the loan (amortized). Points charged for specific loan services, such as the lender's appraisal fee and other settlement fees, are not deductible.

Home Mortgage Points

[rgcook12]

I have the same software issue with points.  It will not allow me to enter the points paid for 2019.

[VictoriaD75]

If you have followed the steps above and are not able to enter points, you may want to delete the original entries and re-enter. 

1. Under Tax Tools, choose Tools
2. Choose Delete a Form
3. Scroll through your return until you find Form 1098 or Home Mortgage Interest Worksheet, click Delete to the right of the form
4. Confirm that you wish to delete the form

Return to the steps in the previous post to re-enter.

[SoCalSilver]

So, where do you enter points that are not on Form 1098, but rather are listed on the Settlement Statement?

[MayaD]

To deduct Points follow the steps below:

1. Log in to your account .
2. Go to Federal Taxes.
3. Go to Deductions and Credits.
4. Select Review next to Mortgage Interest and Refinancing (Form 1098).
5. Select Edit next to the lender. 
6. Continue until you get to the screen Did you pay points in 20xx when you took out the loan?

Can I deduct mortgage points? - Community

[karwine]

This is still not working.  I tried deleting the form and readding the data and there still seems to be a bug.  The worksheet shows that the points are deductible but it doesn't flow through to the Schedule A.  I checked my copy of TT2018 (Premier) and TT2019 (Premier) and neither work.  Please advise.

[karwine]

I ended up just adding the points to the mortgage interest field to get it to flow through to the return.

Note for the product team:  there also seems to be a bug with adjusting the interest for large loans (over 750k).  When you the loan balances, the interest is correctly adjusted, but changing any of those numbers later on or deleting the mortgage interest forms and re-adding, will not allow for re-calculations.  I had to go to a specific form (Tax & Int Wks) and delete the adjusted interest that was calculated the first time I input the numbers.

[AmyC]

You can add the point to the mortgage interest if you qualify for the full deduction. For full details, Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040), see page A8.

[karwine]

Per the discussion thread, this is not working.

[pmkatwala1]

I refinanced Mortgage on 9/13/2019.  Amortized points amount did not add to the interest.  Amount shown on questionnaires and summary it shows amount paid for points. It also shows prorate amount on Home interest smart worksheet but did not add to interest paid line.  So, it did not deduct. So how can I fix this?

[pmkatwala1]

Should I manually add to interest and override it?

[DaveF1006]

Yes, the IRS will let you add the points to your interest if you qualify.  You should not need to override anything. Please read this IRS link, to determine if you qualify to deduct all the points in the first year you paid them.

[pmkatwala]

Thanks, I can deduct but turbotax did not add points to interest. I have to do manually.It did amortized but did not add to interest or Schedule A

[pmkatwala]

yes I agree i can deduct but turbotax did not add to interest or schedule A after amortized points. So i have add manually on worksheet and it works no error but that is not right. Turbotax should take care of after i enter all data.