Instructions for Payer/Borrower
A person (including a financial institution, a governmental unit, and a cooperative
housing corporation) who is engaged in a trade or business and, in the course of
such trade or business, received from you at least $600 of mortgage interest
(including certain points) on any one mortgage in the calendar year must furnish
this statement to you.
If you received this statement as the payer of record on a mortgage on which
there are other borrowers, furnish each of the other borrowers with information
about the proper distribution of amounts reported on this form. Each borrower is
entitled to deduct only the amount he or she paid and points paid by the seller
that represent his or her share of the amount allowable as a deduction. Each
borrower m
ay have to include in income a share of any amount reported in box 4.
If your mortgage payments were subsidized by a government agency, you
may not be able to deduct the amount of the subsidy. See the instructions for
Form 1040, Schedule A, C, or E for how to report the mortgage interest. Also,
for more information, see Pub. 936 and Pub. 535.
Payer's/Borrower's taxpayer identification number. For your protection, this
form may show only the last four digits of your SSN, ITIN, ATIN, or EIN.
However, the issuer has reported your complete identification number to the
IRS.
Account number. May show an account or other unique number the lender has
assigned to distinguish your account.
Box 1. Shows the mortgage interest received by the recipient/lender during the
year. This amount includes interest on any obligation secured by real property,
including a home equity, line of credit, or credit card loan. This amount does not
include points, government subsidy payments, or seller payments on a
“buydown” mortgage. Such amounts are deductible by you only in certain
circumstances. Caution: If you prepaid interest in 2017 that accrued in full by
January 15, 2018, this prepaid interest may be included in box 1. However, you
cannot deduct the prepaid amount in 2017 even though it may be included in
box 1. If you hold a mortgage credit certificate and can claim the mortgage
interest credit, see Form 8396. If the interest was paid on a mortgage, home
equity, line of credit, or credit card loan secured by your personal residence, you
may be subject to a deduction limitation.
Box 2. Shows the outstanding mortgage principal on the mortgage as of
January 1, 2017.
Box 3. Shows the date of the mortgage origination.
Box 4. Do not deduct this amount. It is a refund (or credit) for overpayment(s)
of interest you made in a prior year or years. If you itemized deductions in the
year(s) you paid the interest, you may have to include part or all of the box 4
amount on the “Other income” line of your 2017 Form 1040. No adjustment to
your prior year(s) tax return(s) is necessary. For more information, see Pub. 936
and Itemized Deduction Recoveries in Pub. 525.
Box 5. If an amount is reported in this box, it may qualify to be treated as
deductible mortgage interest. See the 2017 Schedule A (Form 1040) instructions
and Pub. 936.
Box 6. Not all points are reportable to you. Box 6 shows points you or the seller
paid this year for the purchase of your principal residence that are required to be
reported to you. Generally, these points are fully deductible in the year paid, but
you must subtract seller-paid points from the basis of your residence. Other
points not reported in box 6 may also be deductible. See Pub. 936 to figure the
amount you can deduct.
Box 7. If the address of the property securing the mortgage is the same as
the payer's/borrower's, the lender may have checked this box, and boxes 8 and
9 will be blank. If not, either box 8 or 9 will be completed.
Box 8. This is the address of the property securing the mortgage.
Box 9. This is the description of the property securing the mortgage, if box
7 is not checked and box 8 is not completed.
Box 10.
If more than one property secures the loan, shows the number of
properties mortgaged. If only one property secures the loan, this box may be blank.
Box 11. The interest recipient may use this box to give you other information,
such as real estate taxes or insurance paid from escrow.
Future developments. For the latest information about developments related to
Form 1098 and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they were
published, go to www.irs.gov/form1098.
