TuboTax doesn't seem to be programmed for the home mortgage grandfather rules of tax reform. Specifically, 162 taxpayer who has entered into a binding written contract...

[kelly-sheeran]

Do we need to override the software if it doesn't take into consideration the grandfathering rules within Tax Reform? Or will this be updated at some point prior to filing?

162 - “The conference agreement provides that a taxpayer who has entered into a binding written contract before December 15, 2017 to close on the purchase of a principal residence before January 1, 2018, and who purchases such residence before April 1, 2018, shall be considered to incurred acquisition indebtedness prior to December 15, 2017 under this provision.”

[macuser_22]

The actual tax law says:

(III) Treatment of indebtedness incurred on or before December 15, 2017

Subclause (II) shall not apply to any indebtedness incurred on or before December 15, 2017, and, in applying such subclause to any indebtedness incurred after such date, the limitation under such subclause shall be reduced (but not below zero) by the amount of any indebtedness incurred on or before December 15, 2017, which is treated as acquisition indebtedness for purposes of this subsection for the taxable year.

(IV) Binding contract exception

In the case of a taxpayer who enters into a written binding contract before December 15, 2017, to close on the purchase of a principal residence before January 1, 2018, and who purchases such residence before April 1, 2018, subclause (III) shall be applied by substituting “April 1, 2018” for “December 15, 2017”.

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/163">https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/163</a>

It seems to me that if that section applies to you, then you enter (substitute) the date into TurboTax that you entered into the binding contract as the mortgage origin date that TurboTax uses for the calculation.

[kelly-sheeran]

Thank you!

[rjs · Accepted solution]

You don't have to override the software, but TurboTax will not do the calculations for you. You will get a screen that tells you to refer to IRS Publication 936 to calculate the amount of mortgage interest you can deduct, and there is a box on that screen to enter the amount that you calculate. This appears to be a deliberate design decision that TurboTax is not going to handle the more complex mortgage deduction calculations. We've asked the forum moderators about it, but I don't think they are going to add those calculations to the software. My guess is that there are not enough TurboTax users with mortgages over $750,000 to make it worth the extensive programming effort that would be needed.

[kelly-sheeran]

Thank you!