Box 10 on Form 1098 is a catch-all field labeled “Other” that your mortgage servicer uses to report items that don’t fit into the form’s dedicated boxes. Common entries include real estate taxes paid from escrow, homeowner’s insurance paid from escrow, and sometimes seller-paid points or mortgage insurance premiums.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1098 Nothing in Box 10 is automatically deductible. Each entry has to be evaluated on its own, because the deduction rules depend on what the charge actually is.
What Lenders Report in Box 10
The IRS gives mortgage servicers broad discretion here. The official instructions say to “enter any other item you wish to report to the payer, such as real estate taxes, insurance paid from escrow,” or the name of the entity that collected the interest if the servicer is acting as a collection agent.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1098 That open language means what shows up in Box 10 varies from lender to lender. Some servicers itemize escrow disbursements in detail. Others leave the box blank and mail a separate year-end escrow statement.
Box 10 is informational. Unlike Box 1 (mortgage interest) or Box 6 (points), its contents don’t flow directly onto Schedule A. A description usually appears alongside the 1098, either as a footnote on the form or on the accompanying escrow statement, telling you what the number represents. Read that description first, because the right treatment on your return depends entirely on the type of charge.
Real Estate Taxes Paid From Escrow
The most common Box 10 entry is the total property tax your servicer paid on your behalf during the calendar year. If you escrow, your monthly payment includes a portion set aside for property taxes, and the servicer pays the county or municipality directly. What matters for your return is the amount that left escrow and reached the taxing authority, not the amount you deposited into escrow.
Property taxes are deductible if you itemize, but they fall under the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which is capped. For 2026, the SALT cap is $40,400 for most filers and $20,200 for married individuals filing separately. That ceiling covers your combined state and local income taxes (or sales taxes, if you elect that instead) plus property taxes. If your state income and property taxes together exceed the cap, you only deduct up to the cap.
The cap phases down at higher incomes. Starting at $505,000 in modified adjusted gross income ($252,500 for married filing separately), it drops by 30 cents for every dollar above the threshold, with a floor of $10,000 ($5,000 for married filing separately). If your income sits well above $500,000, the practical SALT deduction may be far smaller than the headline number.
Cross-check the Box 10 figure against your escrow disbursement statement before you use it. The two should match. If Box 10 combines property taxes with insurance in a single number, split them out using the statement.
Homeowner’s Insurance Paid From Escrow
Some servicers report homeowner’s insurance premiums disbursed from escrow in Box 10. This is purely informational. Homeowner’s insurance on a personal residence is not deductible on your federal return, no matter how much you paid or how it was paid. If Box 10 shows insurance alongside taxes, only the property tax portion has any chance of producing a deduction.
Seller-Paid Points
When you buy a home and the seller agrees to pay discount points as part of the deal, those points generally don’t appear in Box 6, which is reserved for borrower-paid points. They may appear in Box 10 or only on your closing disclosure. Either way, the IRS treats seller-paid points as if you paid them yourself, provided you reduce your home’s cost basis by that amount.2Internal Revenue Service. Publication 936 – Home Mortgage Interest Deduction
The basis reduction is not optional. If the seller paid $4,000 in points, your home’s tax basis drops by $4,000. When you eventually sell, a lower basis means more taxable gain. For most homeowners who stay under the capital gains exclusion ($250,000 single, $500,000 married filing jointly), the trade works out in their favor.
Deducting the Points in the Year of Purchase
You can deduct seller-paid points in full during the year you buy if you meet all nine tests in IRS Publication 936. The key ones:2Internal Revenue Service. Publication 936 – Home Mortgage Interest Deduction
- The loan is secured by your main home.
- Paying points is an established business practice in your area, and the amount charged isn’t more than what’s typical there.
- The funds you brought to closing (down payment, earnest money, escrow deposits) plus the seller-paid points equal or exceed the points charged. Money borrowed from the lender or broker doesn’t count.
- The loan is used to buy or build the home, not to refinance.
- The points are calculated as a percentage of the mortgage principal and shown clearly on the settlement statement.
- The points aren’t a substitute for fees normally itemized separately, such as appraisal, title, or attorney charges.
Amortizing Points Over the Loan
If any of the tests fail, you spread the deduction evenly over the life of the loan.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 504 – Home Mortgage Points On a 30-year mortgage with $3,000 in seller-paid points, that’s $100 a year. If you refinance or pay off the loan early, you can deduct the remaining unamortized balance in that final year.
Mortgage Insurance Premiums
Private mortgage insurance is usually required when your down payment on a conventional loan is under 20%.4Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is Private Mortgage Insurance When servicers report PMI on Form 1098, it usually goes in Box 5, but some place it in Box 10 instead.
The federal deduction for mortgage insurance premiums expired after December 31, 2021. The statute that authorized it, 26 U.S.C. ยง 163(h)(3)(E), explicitly excludes premiums paid or accrued after that date.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 163 – Interest Bills to reinstate the deduction have been introduced but not enacted. For the 2026 tax year, mortgage insurance premiums shown in Box 5 or Box 10 are not deductible on your federal return. Keep the 1098 anyway in case Congress restores the deduction retroactively.
Does Itemizing Even Make Sense?
None of these deductions help unless your total itemized deductions clear the standard deduction. For 2026, the standard deduction is $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, $16,100 for single filers and married individuals filing separately, and $24,150 for heads of household.6Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
A married couple needs more than $32,200 in combined mortgage interest, property taxes (subject to the SALT cap), charitable gifts, and other itemized items before itemizing pays off. If your Box 1 interest plus your capped property taxes don’t get you close, the Box 10 amounts probably won’t tip you over. Run the numbers both ways before you commit.
Where Box 10 Items Go on Schedule A
Once you know what each Box 10 entry actually is, it lands on a specific line of Schedule A. The line depends on the type of item, not on the fact that it came from Box 10.
- Seller-paid points deducted in full go on Line 8c, which covers deductible points not reported in Box 6.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040)
- Amortized points also go on Line 8c, but only the current year’s portion.
- Real estate taxes go in the “Taxes You Paid” section, combined with your state and local income or sales taxes, up to the SALT cap.
- Mortgage insurance premiums have no line. Line 8d, previously used for this deduction, is marked “Reserved for future use.”7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040)
Hold on to your closing disclosure, escrow statements, and any lender worksheet explaining the Box 10 figure. If the IRS ever questions a deduction, you need paperwork showing what was paid, to whom, and why it qualifies.