How do I enter Property Tax and Mortgage interest from my escrow closing statement, these are not reflected on a 1098?

[CarolC · Accepted solution]

The Form 1098 Mortgage Interest Statement must be mailed to you by January 31st.  Once received, Box 1 of Form 1098 shows the amount of Mortgage Interest paid.  If Box 1 is blank, then contact your mortgage lender.  

Some mortgage lenders report the Property Tax you paid in Box 11 of Form 1098.  If Box 11 is blank, you can find the Property Tax paid by doing the following:

You can call your local city or county property appraiser's or tax assessor’s office, or search their website.  Look for a link to “Property Search” or “Property Tax Records."

You can review your annual escrow statement, which is provided by your mortgage lender.  The escrow statement will show how much real estate taxes were paid in the prior year.  You can also contact your lender if you need help finding this information.

Remember, you can claim the property tax deduction, for all the properties you own, in the year you made the payment. So if you paid your 2018 property tax on December 14, 2017, claim it on your 2017 return. 

See this TurboTax article Claiming Property Taxes on Your Tax Return for additional information.

[cdidio33]

Sorry I wasn't more clear in my question.  This is not an escrow account set up my Lender.  This was an escrow account that handled the the purchase of my new home.   They pre paid mortgage interest and property tax within the closing costs.  This money never came from the Lender.  I do not use an escrow account with the lender for the new home on a month to month basis to pay Property Tax, etc.

Again, the only evidence I have of these payments made are on the final closing documents form from escrow on the purchase of the home.

[CarolC]

@cdidio33 Thank you for the clarification.  See if this helps.

For Mortgage Interest - The mortgage interest on Form 1098 Box 1 should already include the pre-paid interest on your closing statement.  Your numbers on your tax return need to match the Form 1098 Box 1 amount.  If there is a discrepancy, contact your mortgage lender.

For Property Taxes - The key is not to duplicate your deduction.  The seller pays for property tax from Jan 1, 2017, up to the date of sale.  The buyer pays for property tax from the date of sale to December 31, 2017.  Keep in mind, you cannot deduct delinquent property taxes you pay on the seller's behalf from a prior year.  In that case, the property tax paid would be added to the cost of your home.  

See this excerpt taken from IRS Publication 17.  

Division of real estate taxes between buyers and sellers.

"If you bought or sold real estate during the year, the real estate taxes must be divided between the buyer and the seller.  The buyer and the seller must divide the real estate taxes according to the number of days in the real property tax year (the period to which the tax is imposed relates) that each owned the property.  The seller is treated as paying the taxes up to, but not including, the date of sale. The buyer is treated as paying the taxes beginning with the date of sale.

You figure your deduction for taxes on each property bought or sold during the real property tax year as follows."
 
Worksheet 22-1. Figuring Your Real Estate Tax Deduction

1. Enter the total real estate taxes for the real property tax year
2. Enter the number of days in the real property tax year that you owned the property
3. Divide line 2 by 365 (for leap years, divide line 2 by 366)
4. Multiply line 1 by line 3. This is your deduction.

[ricardo-borges]

Can you please clarify the following example:

Every 6 months I paid $2,500 for property tax. I bought my house in April/2017.
I had to pay 2 months of property tax in my Closing related to the property tax that had been paid by the seller. This amount is not in my form 1098 (this form has only $2500 related to the second half property tax).

Two Questions: 1) Can I use these 2 months that are not in the form 1098 as a tax deduction?
2) How do I enter this value in my return?

Thanks.