How do I input average mortgage balance when the loan was only partially used to improve my home?
FreeTaxUSA says "Enter the average mortgage balance" but earlier (when inputting the figures from Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement) FreeTaxUSA asks me "Did you use all of the money from this loan to buy, build, or substantially improve your home?" The answer is "no" so the software said to input in Box 1 only that portion of the interest expense that related to the loan proceeds used to buy, build, or substantially improve your home. So, when I am entering the average mortgage balance, do I input a reduced number to reflect the fact that some of the loan was used for things unrelated to my home? It seems that doing so would be duplicating (double-counting) the reduction I did earlier when I inputted only a portion of the interest expense shown in Box 1 of my Form 1098.