1098 mortgage Interest & Taxes - who can claim them on taxes? Where do property taxes appear on tax forms?
Hi everyone, I'm in a bit of a complicated situation with my mortgage and trying to figure out who gets to deduct what on our taxes. My ex-wife and I divorced last year, but we still co-own our house (I know, not ideal). My name is on the mortgage, but we both pay half. The 1098 form came with just my name on it showing about $16,300 in mortgage interest paid and $5,400 in property taxes. The thing is, she actually paid about half of both amounts throughout the year through our joint account that we kept open just for house expenses. Can she claim her portion of these expenses on her taxes? And where exactly do I report the property taxes part on my return? I've always used TurboTax but this year things are more complicated. Also, is there any specific documentation we need to keep in case the IRS questions why we're both claiming portions of the same 1098? I'm trying to do this right and don't want either of us to run into issues down the road. Thanks for any advice!
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Savannah Glover
When it comes to mortgage interest and property taxes from a 1098 form, the general rule is that the person who paid the expense can claim the deduction - regardless of whose name is on the form. In your situation, if you can document that your ex-wife paid half of these expenses (bank statements showing transfers from her account to the joint account used for mortgage payments would work), then she can legitimately claim her portion. You would each claim the percentage you actually paid - so 50% each in your case. For reporting property taxes, they go on Schedule A if you're itemizing deductions. There's a specific line for "State and local real estate taxes" where you'd put your portion of the $5,400.
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Felix Grigori
•But wouldn't the IRS get confused when they see the 1098 only has one name but two people are claiming deductions from it? Do they need to file some kind of explanation form?
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Savannah Glover
•The IRS is actually quite used to situations like this. There's no specific form needed to explain the split. What's most important is that the total amount claimed by both parties doesn't exceed what's reported on the 1098. Your ex-wife should keep documentation showing she paid her portion of these expenses. This would include bank statements showing transfers to the joint account and records showing the joint account making the mortgage payments. She might want to attach a simple statement to her return explaining that she paid half of the expenses reported on the 1098 issued to you.
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Felicity Bud
Been in a similar situation last year - had to figure out who could claim what on a shared mortgage after a breakup. I tried several different accountants and got conflicting advice until I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai). They actually helped me upload my documents and analyzed exactly how to split the deductions properly. Their system looked at my bank statements and the 1098, then gave clear guidance on how much each person could legally claim. Really helped prevent any potential issues with the IRS. They even generated documentation explaining how we split the deduction in case of an audit. Was a huge relief tbh.
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Max Reyes
•Wait, so does this service actually review your specific financial docs or is it more like general advice? I've got a somewhat similar situation but with my brother co-owning property.
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Mikayla Davison
•Did they explain how the IRS actually tracks this? My mortgage lender said they only report the full amount to the person named on the 1098. I'm worried about getting flagged if my partner claims part of it.
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Felicity Bud
•They actually review your specific financial documents - you upload them securely and their system analyses them and provides personalized advice. It's not generic info but based on your exact situation, which was super helpful for my complicated case. The IRS does receive the 1098 with just one person's name, but what matters is who actually paid the expense. The service explained that the IRS systems do look for the total deducted by all taxpayers to match the 1098 amount. They helped me create documentation showing how and why we split it, which protects both parties if there's ever a question.
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Mikayla Davison
Following up on my question - I decided to try taxr.ai and I'm really glad I did. I was worried about my partner claiming part of our mortgage interest when only my name is on the 1098, but after uploading our bank statements and mortgage docs, they sorted everything out for us. The system showed exactly how much each of us could legally claim based on our payment history. It even created a detailed breakout showing how we've been splitting mortgage payments that we can keep for our records. Huge relief knowing we're doing everything by the book without leaving money on the table. Definitely recommend if you're in a shared mortgage situation.
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Adrian Connor
If you're still trying to reach the IRS for confirmation on this mortgage interest splitting situation, good luck with that! I spent WEEKS trying to get someone on the phone about a similar issue last year. Finally used a service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual human at the IRS in about 20 minutes. They have a cool demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent was able to confirm exactly what others here are saying - that you can split the deduction based on who actually paid what, regardless of whose name is on the 1098. Just make sure you both have documentation showing the payments. Getting that official confirmation gave me peace of mind that we were filing correctly.
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Aisha Jackson
•How does this even work? The IRS phone lines are completely jammed all the time. Are they somehow jumping the queue or what?
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Ryder Everingham
•Sounds sketchy to me. Why would I pay for something that should be a free government service? The IRS should just hire more people instead of creating this secondary market.
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Adrian Connor
•It uses a combination of technology and timing to connect you with the IRS. They've figured out exactly when to call and which prompts to use to get through faster than if you were calling yourself. It's not jumping the queue so much as having a system that knows the optimal approach to reach an agent. I completely understand your frustration with having to pay for access to a government service. In an ideal world, the IRS would be properly funded with enough staff to handle all calls. But the reality is that millions of people struggle to get through each year. I personally decided the time saved was worth it after wasting days trying to get through on my own.
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Ryder Everingham
I need to apologize for my skepticism about Claimyr. After struggling for almost two weeks trying to reach the IRS about my mortgage interest question (calling multiple times daily and never getting through), I broke down and tried it. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. The agent confirmed exactly what I needed to know about splitting mortgage interest deductions with my partner. She explained that we need to each keep documentation showing our contributions to the payments, and that we should each only claim the percentage we actually paid. Totally worth it just for the stress reduction. Sometimes you have to admit when you're wrong!
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Lilly Curtis
Quick tip from someone who went through this last year - if you're splitting mortgage interest and taxes with someone not on the 1098, make sure you BOTH keep: 1. Bank statements showing transfers to the joint account 2. Records of the joint account paying the mortgage 3. A written agreement between you both about the arrangement (doesn't need to be formal, just documented) 4. Calculation of the exact percentages each person paid I ended up getting a letter from the IRS questioning my deduction since the 1098 wasn't in my name, but once I sent this documentation, they accepted it without any issues.
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Kevin Bell
•This is incredibly helpful, thank you! We still have all our bank statements showing the transfers, but I hadn't thought about creating a written agreement. We'll definitely put something together documenting our 50/50 arrangement. Did you just create a simple letter that you both signed or did you use some kind of template?
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Lilly Curtis
•I just created a simple one-page letter stating that we agreed to split the mortgage payments and property taxes 50/50, with both our names, addresses, and signatures. I also included a spreadsheet showing all the payments made throughout the year from each of us. Nothing fancy, but it was enough to satisfy the IRS when they asked for documentation.
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Leo Simmons
Something else to consider - are either you or your ex itemizing deductions? Remember that mortgage interest and property taxes only help if you're itemizing rather than taking the standard deduction. With the standard deduction being $13,850 for single filers in 2025, you'd need your total itemized deductions (including these housing expenses plus charitable contributions, etc.) to exceed that amount for itemizing to make sense. If one of you itemizes and the other takes the standard deduction, it might be more tax-efficient for the itemizing person to claim a larger share of these expenses if that's something you can work out between yourselves.
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Lindsey Fry
•Good point! My accountant actually suggested something similar when I was in this situation. If only one person benefits from itemizing, it might make sense to adjust the "economic reality" of who pays what going forward. Of course, this needs to be actually implemented, not just claimed on paper.
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