Form 1098 box 10 has Property taxes & Other Taxes - Should I add both for itemized deductions?

The property tax amount of $1,875 from box 10 on Form 1098 definitely goes on Schedule A as a deductible real estate tax. However, the "Other taxes" amount is more complicated. These "Other taxes" on a 1098 typically refer to non-deductible items like HOA fees, garbage collection, or other assessments that aren't actually property taxes. The mortgage company collects and pays these along with your actual property taxes, but they aren't necessarily deductible as property taxes on your federal return. To determine if the "Other taxes" are deductible, you need to figure out exactly what they represent. If they're for services (like garbage collection) rather than actual taxes, they generally aren't deductible. If they're for special local assessments for improvements, those usually aren't deductible either.

I went through a similar situation last year and was pulling my hair out trying to figure out what to do. Then I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which saved me a ton of headache. I uploaded my Form 1098 and my property tax statements, and their AI analyzed everything to tell me exactly what was deductible and what wasn't. In my case, it turned out that about half of my "Other taxes" were actually special assessments for local improvements that weren't deductible, while the other half were legitimate property taxes that had been miscategorized. Without that analysis, I would have either over-deducted or under-deducted and potentially faced issues later.

Just wanted to update everyone - I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and it was seriously helpful! I uploaded my mortgage statement and property tax bills, and it broke down exactly what was deductible and what wasn't. Turns out in my case, about $2,200 of my "Other taxes" were actually legitimate property taxes that could be deducted, but the remaining $3,900 were for special assessments and fees that weren't deductible. Without this analysis I would have either lost out on deductions or incorrectly claimed too much. The analysis even showed me exactly where to put each number in TaxAct, which saved me from guessing. Definitely using this for all my tax docs going forward!

Speaking of tax help, if you need to actually talk to someone at the IRS about this (which I had to do for a similar issue), I highly recommend Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I spent literal HOURS trying to get through to the IRS about a property tax question that impacted multiple tax years, and kept getting disconnected. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. The agent was able to confirm exactly how I should handle my property taxes and other assessments, and even helped me determine if I needed to file an amended return for past years.

I'm eating my words right now. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr because I had several years of property tax questions that were similar to the original poster's situation. I was 100% convinced it was going to be a waste of time. Well, I was wrong. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes. The agent clarified that in my case, the "Other taxes" on my Form 1098 included some special assessments that weren't deductible, but also some legitimate property taxes that were being incorrectly categorized. They helped me figure out exactly what was deductible and even explained how to document everything in case of an audit. Now I'm going back to correct my returns from the last few years where I deducted everything. Just wanted to update since I was so publicly doubtful!

I'm a tax preparer and see this confusion all the time. Here's a simple guideline: property taxes are generally deductible if they're assessed uniformly on all property in the jurisdiction based on value. Special assessments for local benefits that increase property value usually aren't deductible. Mortgage companies often lump everything together in escrow payments, but that doesn't mean everything is a deductible tax. Look at your actual property tax bill to see the breakdown.

Has anyone considered that these "Other taxes" might actually be something you can deduct elsewhere? Like if they include fire or flood protection services, sometimes those can be deductible as part of home office expenses if you have one.