Co-owners on a house, not married, both on 1098

[Nlorelli40]

What is the legal way to file single unmarried, joint homeowners. Both of them are on the 1098. She is listed first with SS# and makes less and would like to do the standard deduction.  He would like to take the entire deduction to itemize and is listed 2nd on 1098.  All house bills are paid from a joint account that they each contribute to to cover all household expenses including food and utilities. Can he claim the entire house if she is listed first with SS#? Some articles say it must be a 50/50 split. Thanks for the help.

[AnnetteB6]

Typically, if both people are liable for paying the mortgage, then the mortgage interest deduction may be split in whatever manner you want as long as you are not deducting more than the total that was paid.  

The TurboTax article below states that each person must deduct only the portion that they paid.  You mentioned in your question that both parties contribute to the bills of the household, so as long as the party who is deducting the mortgage interest has contributed at least as much to the household to cover the mortgage interest, then they should be able to deduct it and provide documentation to the IRS showing they paid with their funds (in the very unlikely event that it is examined by the IRS).

Here is the article that explains some different situations for deducting mortgage interest:

How do I deduct mortgage interest if I co-owned the home?
 

[Nlorelli40]

Thank you, 

So to clarify, if the joint account is funded with say $39,000 each (T-$78000 and the taxes and interest are equal to @ $38500 , then one owner could take the entire deduction for interest and taxes and the other pays for principle, pmi, utilities, insurance and all other household items then that would be ok?  Just concerned about a 50/50 split if both are on the 1098.

[Nlorelli40]

And she is listed first with only her SS#, but he wants to take the deduction

[Hal_Al]

I agree with AnnetteB6, you can do that.  Being listed first with the only SS# does not preclude that strategy. It's common and correct. 

Here's my standard answer:

Unmarried couples claiming mortgage interest. You pretty much have a choice. One can claim it all or you can split it. It's usually best if only one claims it, allowing the other to use the standard deduction.

You have to meet the rules, which are:

1. You are legally obligated to pay it
2. You actually pay it. Paying from a joint account where you made sufficient deposits to cover the payments will usually meet this standard. However, paying from your own account would be a stronger audit defense.