Yes, you can take an interest deduction for a foreign mortgage if the property is either your primary residence or a secondary residence. Just remember to report the interest portion only and in USD. Enter the information as though you received a Form 1098.
The Internal Revenue Service has no official
exchange rate. In general, use the exchange rate prevailing (i.e., the spot
rate) when you received the income. Please refer to the following IRS links for
more information about Foreign
Currency and Currency Exchange Rates and Yearly
Average Currency Exchange Rates
To enter your Mortgage Interest in TurboTax Online or Desktop, please follow these steps:
- Once you are in your tax return, click on the “Federal Taxes” tab ("Personal" tab in TurboTax Home & Business)
- Next click on “Deductions and Credits”
- Next click on "jump to full list" or “I’ll choose what I work on”
- Scroll down the screen until to come to the section “Your Home”
- Choose "show more", then Mortgage Interest, Refinancing and Insurance
It is OK to show your foreign mortgage interest under the 1098 section of Schedule A. Just be aware that if you are contacted by the IRS, you will just need to provide an explanation of your situation (that your mortgage interest is from a foreign bank and provide the IRS with the details of this loan)
