[diangel]

I bought a house on Oct 29th 2009. At closing, I paid 2 months real estate taxes. My first mortgage payment was due on Dec 1st 2009 and I also paid real estate taxes to my lender in addition to my mortgage payment.
I received a 1098 from my lender and only lines 1 and 2 were filled in for my Mortgage interest and Points paid on purchase of principal residence.
Are my real estate taxes deductible in 2009. If so, do I add the 2 month of real estate taxes I paid as closing and the amount I paid as part of my mortgage payment?

[ebaines]

The only real estate taxes that are deductible for 2009 are those that were actually paid to the municipality in 2009. In other words - it doesn't matter how much you paid to your lender - it only matters what the lender paid to the city on your behalf. The 1098 seems to show that they have not paid anything yet. So no - you can not add the two months payments of taxes - nor the amount you paid at closing - as tax-deductions on your schdule A.
I would recommend that you review your escrow account statements, and compare it to your 1098 to make sure there are no mistakes.

[diangel]

Thanks for your help. I think I now have a better understanding.
However, where do I get my escrow statement from? Do I also receive this from my lender?
All I got was my HUD-1 form from my realtor and the 1098 form from my lender (which had nothing in line 5)

[ebaines]

Your lender should send you an ascrow statement annually. If you have on-line access to your mortgage account, you can probably log in and see the escrow activity (I can do that with my mortgage account).

[diangel]

Ok thanks, looks like I'll have to call my former lender, as the sold my mortgage to my current lender like a month after I closed. I do have online access with my new lender and I see they paid out 3 months of property tax this month. But to date, I have paid 5 months of property taxes - 2 at closing and one from each month from Dec - Feb.
Thanks a lot for your help though. Much appreciated.