Paid tax liens for a deceased relative

[ando5610]

I inherited property with tax liens. To sell the home we had to pay off liens. Can I write off the liens I paid?

[AmyT]

If the payments were for real estate (property) taxes, they are deductible as an itemized deduction.

If you do not itemize deductions, you can treat the amounts paid as an increase in the basis of the house when it is sold.

[ando5610]

I am not sure what the liens were for. As they were for a deceased relative. I just had to pay them off to sell the property. So, there is no way to write that off? It also says that I can not show a loss on the properties because I didn't rent them. How is that the case?

[AmyT]

If there was a lien on the house and they were paid to your county (or township), they were almost certainly for back real estate taxes. (If it were my return, I would treat them as such).  Out of curiousity, where did it say that you cannot show a loss on the property?  That may apply to treating it as a "rental" and deducting losses, but it should not apply to selling the property.

[ando5610]

I was setting it up wrong. Turbotax called me and told me my error.