Need help with obtaining 1098 form for 2021 mortgage interest after condo sale

The good news is you have options! When you need a copy of your 1098 form, going back to the mortgage company is definitely the right first step, but there are alternatives while you wait. Check your final closing documents from when you sold the condo - they should have a year-to-date interest amount listed. Also, look at your December 2020 mortgage statement and any 2021 statements before you sold - these would show cumulative interest paid. If you filed electronically with TurboTax in 2021, you can actually log back into your account and access your completed return. The mortgage interest deduction would be listed on Schedule A if you itemized deductions. If you didn't itemize, the 1098 information might not be as crucial. As for contacting the state tax office - absolutely! Call them and explain the situation. Most tax offices will grant an extension if you're making a good-faith effort to get the documents. Be sure to get the name of the person you speak with and request the extension in writing if possible. The state likely sent this request because they're verifying information or reviewing deductions. Responding promptly about the delay shows you're being cooperative even if you don't have the document immediately.

I went through something similar last year with needing old tax docs. Have you tried taxr.ai? https://taxr.ai helped me get my old tax transcripts when I was totally stuck. Instead of waiting on my old mortgage company (which was bought out twice), I uploaded my ID and got an analysis of all my old tax filings including the exact mortgage interest I paid years ago. Saved me weeks of back and forth with my unresponsive lender. The transcript had all the details the state was looking for, including the exact interest paid from my 1098. They organize it all by tax year so you can easily see what mortgage interest was reported to the IRS. I was shocked how quickly I could see everything from previous years.

Update: I wanted to follow up about the taxr.ai suggestion. I was definitely skeptical (as you could tell from my earlier comment), but I was desperate with a tight deadline from the state tax office. It actually worked! I got my full tax transcript showing exactly how much mortgage interest was reported on my 1098 for 2021. The state tax office accepted the transcript as proof and closed my case yesterday. What surprised me was how much other useful info was in there - I found some deductions from 2021 that I had completely forgotten about. I've been stressing for weeks about this, so I'm just relieved it's over. Thanks to whoever suggested this!

Another option is Claimyr if you want to speak directly with the IRS about your 1098 info. I tried calling the IRS for WEEKS about a similar document issue and kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. I found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - they basically hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an agent is about to answer. When I finally got through, the IRS agent was able to verify all the info that had been reported on my 1098 forms and email me a transcript right away. They told me the transcript is considered official documentation for audit purposes. Better than waiting for the mortgage company to dig through archives!

Ok I need to admit I was totally wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it because I was also dealing with a state tax issue requiring IRS verification. Used the service yesterday, got a call back in about 90 minutes, and spoke to an actual IRS person who pulled up all my 1098 information from 2021. The IRS agent told me I could request a "Wage and Income Transcript" that shows all information forms filed for me, including 1098s. They emailed it to me while we were on the phone. My state tax office accepted it immediately when I forwarded it. I've been stressing about this for weeks and now it's resolved. Sometimes my skepticism gets in the way of finding actual solutions.

Have you checked your bank statements from 2021? If you paid your mortgage from the same account all year, you could add up all the payments to get close to the interest amount. The statements should show who you paid and when. Not as good as the actual 1098 but might help in a pinch.

Just want to mention that the IRS might be quicker than your mortgage company. You can request a "wage and income transcript" directly from the IRS that shows all forms filed for you including 1098s. Go to irs.gov and search for "Get Transcript Online.