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Level 2
posted Feb 27, 2021 9:20:26 PM

Why would a mortgage interest deduction decrease my refund? I have 3 mortgage interest deductions and the one input third (no matter which one) always decreases my refund

I am itemizing, not taking the standard deduction.

0 5 994
5 Replies
Level 15
Feb 27, 2021 11:39:43 PM

possibly because the average balance exceeds the indebtedness limit thus reducing the mortgage interest deduction. the other possibility is incorrect entries for the 3 mortgages. 

Level 2
Feb 28, 2021 2:11:28 AM

thanks for your reply. it makes sense to me that my refund would stay the same if I have maxed out the deduction, but why would my refund decrease? This is what is happening to me - my refund is X, I try to take another mortgage interest deduction and instead of my refund being X+ or just X, my refund is substantially lower than X. Any additional thoughts?

Level 2
Feb 28, 2021 2:23:37 AM

I have 3 because I refinanced and the new loan was assigned to a different lender. So, I have 1098s from (i) my original lender, (ii) my post-refi lender, and (iii) my post-refi assigned lender. Each lists my approximate outstanding mortgage principal. Do I only list the outstanding mortgage principal for the original lender 1098 (since that is the only one of the three loans that was outstanding on 1/1/20)?

Level 1
May 8, 2021 1:46:45 PM

I have the same problem, so is my friend. This doesn't make any sense, it looks like a bug in the software.

I also see that I get bigger vehicle business deduction if I drive LESS for business. Where can/how this issue be reported? this is incorrect, I've been using Turbotax for many years and never had this issue.

 

Level 1
May 8, 2021 3:45:04 PM

This is what you should do:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/loans/help/what-do-i-do-if-i-have-multiple-1098s-from-refinancing-my-home-debt/01/1897136

To me personally, its a bug, we should not be sitting with calculators and combining 4 mortgage interests.

Turbotax should have an option to indicate refinancing if you main home  and combine all our statements.

For anyone new to Turbotax its confusing and may lead to unintentional higher tax bill, unacceptable.