It is important to note that some major mortgage loan providers who send 1098s to home owners in at least some cases are NOT ticking the box in Box 7 even though the address of the property securing the mortgage is the only primary address and is the same as the payer/borrowers. Instead the Lender is showing the same primary address in Box 8 as the address on the same form that it shows for the payer/borrower primary address.
So while it seems prudent to follow the advice that you indicate to tell TT exactly what you received ie Box 7 not checked (must follow the rules after all) , the way the lender is sending the 1098 appears to not comport with what the form was really 'wanting' for presentation... so is likely causing confusion from TT users and hence the question we see here.
While on this topic, it appears there is an issue with TT itself on this form as it will ask for principal amounts but, as one instance, a large lender had transferred all its loans in 2018 . the problem is those borrowers will get TWO 1098s , one for first portion of year one from the 'first' lender and a second 1098 for second lender and last portion of year. Issue is if you answer TT question for tht form and give principal amount as asked for each 1098 it those amounts sum over $1 mil then TT will not give you the deduction thinking you have exceeded the max loan amount allowed. This is flawed software logic as apparently it is not properly taking into account the scenario I describe: receiving two (or more) 1098s for a tax year because the loan was assigned to a new servicer. Yikes imo if TT users simply answer the questions they are prompted to answer regarding beg or ending principal amount of loan then they could be declined their deduction which is incorrect. This need to be fixed ASAP imo. disclaimer: none of this is tax advice nor can be used as tax advice I don't hold myself out to be an expert all users should see their own tax consultant to determine their individual tax situation.
