Form 1098: Mortgage Interest Statement, Box by Box
Form 1098 is the Mortgage Interest Statement that a lender or other interest recipient files when, in the course of its trade or business, it receives $600 or more of mortgage interest from an individual on any one mortgage during the calendar year; the same form reports certain points, refunds of overpaid interest and, if section 163(h)(3)(E) applies, mortgage insurance premiums. This page uses Form 1098 (Rev. April 2025) and the Instructions for Form 1098 (Rev. December 2026).
Maintained by Archie Chang · Sources checked against IRS text on November 2, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Who files Form 1098 and the $600 rule
The IRS About page puts the rule in one sentence, and the instructions add that the $600 applies to each mortgage:
“Use Form 1098 (Info Copy Only) to report mortgage interest of $600 or more received by you during the year in the course of your trade or business from an individual, including a sole proprietor.”
“Use Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement, to report mortgage interest (including points, defined later) of $600 or more you received during the year in the course of your trade or business from an individual, including a sole proprietor. Report only interest on a mortgage, defined later. File a separate Form 1098 for each mortgage. The $600 threshold applies separately to each mortgage, so you are not required to file Form 1098 for a mortgage on which you have received less than $600 in interest, even if an individual paid you over $600 in total on multiple mortgages. You may, at your option, file Form 1098 to report mortgage interest of less than $600, but if you do, you are subject to the rules in these instructions.”
Copy B, the borrower’s copy, words the same rule from the borrower’s side:
“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.”
The instructions’ Who Must File section adds the trade-or-business condition with an example:
“File this form if you are engaged in a trade or business and, in the course of such trade or business, you receive from an individual $600 or more of mortgage interest (or $600 or more of MIP, if section 163(h)(3)(E) applies for the reporting year) on any one mortgage during the calendar year. See the instructions for box 5, later, for MIP reporting requirements. You are not required to file this form if the interest is not received in the course of your trade or business. For example, you hold the mortgage on your former personal residence. The buyer makes mortgage payments to you. You are not required to file Form 1098.”
The Who Must File section also covers rules for collection agents, governmental units, cooperative housing corporations and foreign interest recipients, quoted here:
“Generally, if you receive reportable interest payments (other than points) on behalf of someone else and you are the first person to receive the interest, such as a servicing bank collecting payments for a lender, you must file this form.”
“A governmental unit (or any subsidiary agency) receiving mortgage interest from an individual of $600 or more must file this form.”
“A cooperative housing corporation is an interest recipient and must file Form 1098 to report an amount received from its tenant-stockholders that represents the tenant-stockholders' proportionate share of interest described in section 216(a)(2).”
“If you are not a U.S. person, you must file Form 1098 if the interest is received in the United States.”
The instructions also add rules for designation agreements, nonresident alien payers and payments by third parties, which this page does not reproduce.
Exceptions and co-borrowers
“You don’t need to file Form 1098 for interest received from a corporation, partnership, trust, estate, association, or company (other than a sole proprietor) even if an individual is a co-borrower and all the trustees, beneficiaries, partners, members, or shareholders of the payer of record are individuals.”
“Even though there may be more than one borrower on the mortgage, you are required to prepare Form 1098 only for the payer of record, and only if such payer of record is an individual, showing the total interest received on the mortgage.”
Copy B tells a payer of record what to do when there are other borrowers:
“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 each borrower paid and points paid by the seller that represent each borrower’s share of the amount allowable as a deduction. Each borrower may have to include in income a share of any amount reported in box 4.”
Form 1098, box by box
These are the boxes on Form 1098 (Rev. April 2025). The instructions say which revision applies to 2026 information. The opening change notes in the Instructions for Form 1098 (Rev. December 2026) cover the continuous-use revision and do not mention renumbered boxes.
“Use the April 2025 revision of Form 1098 and these instructions to file 2026 information with the IRS in early 2027. Also use them to furnish the information to the recipient. Continue to use these revisions for subsequent years until we issue a superseding revision. Do not use these revisions for prior years.”
| Box | Title in the IRS instructions | What the IRS says the box shows |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mortgage Interest Received From Payer(s)/Borrower(s) | 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 mortgage, home equity loan, or line of credit. 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. |
| 2 | Outstanding Mortgage Principal | Shows the outstanding principal on the mortgage as of January 1 of the calendar year. If the mortgage originated in the calendar year, shows the mortgage principal as of the date of origination. If the recipient/lender acquired the loan in the calendar year, shows the mortgage principal as of the date of acquisition. |
| 3 | Mortgage Origination Date | Shows the date of the mortgage origination. |
| 4 | Refund of Overpaid Interest | 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 calendar year Schedule 1 (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. |
| 5 | Mortgage Insurance Premiums | If an amount is reported in this box, it may qualify to be treated as deductible mortgage interest. See the calendar year Schedule A (Form 1040) instructions and Pub. 936. |
| 6 | Points Paid on Purchase of Principal Residence | 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. |
| 7 | Address of Property Securing Mortgage | If the address of the property securing the mortgage is the same as the payer’s/borrower’s, either the box has been checked, or box 8 has been completed. |
| 8 | Address or Description of Property Securing Mortgage | Shows the address or description of the property securing the mortgage. |
| 9 | Number of Mortgaged Properties | If more than one property secures the loan, shows the number of properties securing the mortgage. If only one property secures the loan, this box may be blank. |
| 10 | Other | The interest recipient may use this box to give you other information, such as real estate taxes or insurance paid from escrow. |
| 11 | Mortgage Acquisition Date | If the recipient/lender acquired the mortgage in the calendar year, shows the date of acquisition. |
Box 1 interest and what is deductible
Copy B prints a caution next to box 1 and adds two further statements under the box 1 instructions:
“Caution: The amount shown may not be fully deductible by you. Limits based on the loan amount and the cost and value of the secured property may apply. Also, you may only deduct interest to the extent it was incurred by you, actually paid by you, and not reimbursed by another person.”
“If the interest was paid on a mortgage, home equity loan, or line of credit secured by a qualified residence, you can only deduct the interest paid on acquisition indebtedness, and you may be subject to a deduction limitation.”
“If you prepaid interest in the calendar year that accrued in full by January 15 of the subsequent year, this prepaid interest may be included in box 1. However, you cannot deduct the prepaid amount in the calendar year paid even though it may be included in box 1.”
For the rules on deducting mortgage interest, Copy B refers readers to the Schedule A (Form 1040) instructions, Pub. 936 and Pub. 535. This site’s standard deduction page covers the standard deduction amounts, and the mortgage calculator and mortgage recast calculator cover payments.
Points (box 6)
“You must report certain points paid for the purchase of the payer of record's principal residence on Form 1098. You must report points if the points, plus other interest on the mortgage, are $600 or more. For example, if a borrower pays points of $300 and other mortgage interest of $300, the lender has received $600 of mortgage interest and must file Form 1098.”
The instructions then list amounts that are not reported as points:
“Exceptions. Do not report as points on Form 1098 amounts paid:
For loans to improve a principal residence;
For loans to purchase or improve a residence that is not the payer of record's principal residence, such as a second home, vacation, investment, or trade or business property, even though the borrower may be entitled to amortize points paid for the purchase of a second home, vacation home, etc., and deduct them over the life of the loan;
For a home equity or line of credit loan, even if secured by the principal residence;
[…]”
Refund of overpaid interest (box 4)
“You are required to report reimbursements of overpaid interest aggregating $600 or more to a payer of record on Form 1098. You are not required to report reimbursements of overpaid interest aggregating less than $600 unless you are otherwise required to file Form 1098.”
The Copy B wording for box 4 is in the table above: it says not to deduct the box 4 amount and describes when it may have to be included in income.
Mortgage insurance premiums (box 5)
The instructions make mortgage insurance premium reporting depend on section 163(h)(3)(E) applying for the reporting year, and this page does not decide that question:
“Also use Form 1098 to report mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) of $600 or more you received during the calendar year in the course of your trade or business from an individual, including a sole proprietor, but only if section 163(h)(3)(E) applies.”
“Receipt of $600 or more of MIP is determined on a mortgage-by-mortgage basis. Do not aggregate MIP received on all of the mortgages of an individual to determine whether the $600 threshold is met.”
Due dates
Publication 1099 (2026) has a guide to information returns with one row per form. The guide’s two date columns are headed “To IRS” and “To recipient”; the Form 1098 row words the recipient column as “To Payer/Borrower”. A footnote adds the electronic filing date:
“Due date Form Title What to report Amounts to report To IRS To recipient (unless indicated otherwise)”
“1098 Mortgage Interest Statement Mortgage interest (including points) and certain mortgage insurance premiums you received in the course of your trade or business from individuals and reimbursements of overpaid interest. $600 or more February 28* (To Payer/Borrower) January 31”
“* The due date is March 31 if filed electronically.”
The guide also has a rule for dates that fall on a weekend or holiday:
“If any filing due date in these instructions falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday, you will be considered to have timely filed if you file by the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday.”
The other IRS information returns on this site are Form 1099-NEC and the 1099-R distribution codes.
What this page does not cover
- Whether interest, points or premiums are deductible on a particular return; the IRS sends readers to Pub. 936, Pub. 535 and the Schedule A instructions.
- Penalties for filers and state reporting rules.
Frequently asked questions
What is Form 1098?
Form 1098 is the Mortgage Interest Statement. Under the instructions (Rev. December 2026), someone engaged in a trade or business who receives $600 or more of mortgage interest from an individual on any one mortgage during the calendar year files it and provides a statement to the payer of record. The $600 amount applies separately to each mortgage.
Is a Form 1098 filed when less than $600 of interest is received?
The instructions say the $600 threshold applies separately to each mortgage, so Form 1098 is not required for a mortgage on which less than $600 of interest was received, even if an individual paid over $600 in total on multiple mortgages. A filer may, at its option, file for less than $600, but is then subject to the rules in the instructions. For points, the instructions say they must be reported if the points, plus other interest on the mortgage, are $600 or more.
What are the boxes on Form 1098?
Form 1098 (Rev. April 2025) has 11 boxes: mortgage interest received (box 1), outstanding mortgage principal (2), mortgage origination date (3), refund of overpaid interest (4), mortgage insurance premiums (5), points paid on purchase of principal residence (6), the property address boxes (7 and 8), number of properties (9), other (10) and mortgage acquisition date (11). The table above gives the IRS wording for each.
What is box 4, refund of overpaid interest?
Copy B says not to deduct the box 4 amount: it is a refund (or credit) of interest paid in a prior year or years, and a borrower who itemized deductions in the year(s) the interest was paid may have to include part or all of it on the “Other income” line of Schedule 1 (Form 1040). The instructions require the person who makes a reimbursement of overpaid interest aggregating $600 or more to report it on Form 1098.
Are points reported on Form 1098?
Certain points are. The instructions say points paid for the purchase of the payer of record’s principal residence are reportable when they meet the listed conditions, and they go in box 6. Copy B says not all points are reportable to the borrower and that other points not reported in box 6 may also be deductible, with a reference to Pub. 936.
Does a Form 1098 mean the interest is deductible?
The caution printed on Copy B says the amount shown may not be fully deductible: limits based on the loan amount and the cost and value of the secured property may apply, and interest is deductible only to the extent it was incurred by the borrower, actually paid by the borrower, and not reimbursed by another person. This site’s standard deduction page covers the standard deduction amounts.
Is box 5, mortgage insurance premiums, always used?
The instructions have Form 1098 report mortgage insurance premiums of $600 or more only if section 163(h)(3)(E) applies for the reporting year. Copy B says an amount in box 5 may qualify to be treated as deductible mortgage interest and refers to the Schedule A (Form 1040) instructions and Pub. 936. This page does not decide whether section 163(h)(3)(E) applies for a given year.
When is Form 1098 due?
The Publication 1099 (2026) guide lists, for Form 1098, January 31 to the recipient (the payer or borrower); February 28 to the IRS (March 31 if filed electronically). If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday, the guide treats a filing made by the next day that is not one as timely.