Form 1098-MA is used to report:
Payments made by either HUD under the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program (EHLP) or a State HFA under the Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets (HFA Hardest Hit Fund) or the EHLP (State HFA/HUD mortgage assistance payments); and
Payments made by you (homeowner mortgage payments) under these programs.
Box 1. Shows the total amount of State HFA/HUD mortgage assistance payments and homeowner mortgage payments.
Box 2. Shows the amount of State HFA/HUD mortgage assistance payments.
Box 3. Shows the amount of homeowner mortgage payments you paid to the State HFA or HUD.
Hardest Hit Fund and Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Programs. Taxpayers can use a special method to compute their deduction for mortgage interest and real estate taxes on their main home if they meet the following two conditions.
The taxpayer received assistance under:
A State Housing Finance Agency (State HFA) Hardest Hit Fund program in which program payments could be used to pay mortgage interest, or
An Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or a state.
The taxpayer meets the rules to deduct all of the mortgage interest on their loan and all of the real estate taxes on their main home.
If the taxpayer meets these tests, they can deduct all of the payments that they actually made during the year to their mortgage servicer, the State HFA, or HUD on the home mortgage (including the amount shown on box 3 of Form 1098-MA, Mortgage Assistance Payments), but not more than the sum of the amounts shown on Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement, in box 1 (mortgage interest received from payer(s) / borrower(s)), box 4 (mortgage insurance premiums) and box 5 (real property taxes). However, the taxpayer is not required to use this special method to compute their deduction for mortgage interest and real estate taxes on their main home.
Mortgage assistance payments under section 235 of the National Housing Act. If a taxpayer qualifies for mortgage assistance payments for lower-income families under section 235 of the National Housing Act, part or all of the interest on their mortgage may be paid for them. A taxpayer cannot deduct the interest that is paid on their behalf.
No other effect on taxes. Do not include mortgage assistance payments as income. Also, do not use these payments to reduce other deductions, such as real estate taxes.