My question isn't so much maximizing my return but making sure I'm doing it correctly.
My partner and I became registered domestic partners (RDP) in California in 2023. In 2023, we also sold our first home and purchased our current home, both homes were/are our primary residence and held as joint tenants. We understand we must file separately for federal but jointly for California.
For our first home that we sold in early 2023, both our names were on the mortgage but my partner was the primary borrower. Because of our financial situation at the time, he paid for essentially everything (from non-joint account). The interests paid and interest income for 2023 are both very small amounts because it was only 2 months worth. But if my partner decides to itemize the deductions on his federal return, can he claim 100% or will it have to be split between us? Will I have to report anything on my federal return? Or can I simply not mention it?
Follow up question on the sale of the first home - we decided to split the proceeds equally and we each got our own 1099-S. There's a question on TurboTax that asks about the adjusted cost basis of the home that was sold - do we split this amount on our federal return?
