[kneyin]

I did not make enough to pay my mortgage and Texas including other bill. All were paid by my brother living with me. Can he itemize my deductions in his return if I am claimed as a dependent on his tax return?

[RickJ]

Yes, he can. The home need not be in his name to pay it's expenses - and itemize them on his tax return.

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

I disagree with RickJ!

Only the person/persons who is/are legally obligated to pay the mortgage payment and pay the real estate taxes may claim those expenses on their tax return. To be legally obligated to pay usually requires that his name be on the loan (to claim the mortgage interest) or on the deed (to claim the real estate taxes). The only exception is addressed in the next paragraph.

If you have an ownership agreement with your brother to give him partial ownership of the house, then (and only then) can he claim any of the mortgage interest or taxes as a deduction. When you do that, he needs to attach a statement to his return citing that ownership agreement.

Remember that there is no paper trail that shows your brother has ownership of the house. His name is neither on the mortgage loan nor on the deed, and his SSN is not on the Form 1098 which reports these items to the IRS. If he claims these items on his return without this paper trail and without the statement cited above, an audit notice is almost a sure bet sometime in the future.

[RickJ]

Thank you for the clarification. I pay and claim taxes on properties that are not in my name; not on a loan and not on the deed... but I do have unrecorded land contracts with the person who is shown as the owner.

I'm glad you're here, Atlanta!