Real Estate Taxes on Your Home: What Schedule A Allows
Published November 7, 2026
Publication 530 (2025), Tax Information for Homeowners, explains which costs of owning a home you can deduct. This guide covers one of them: real estate taxes on your main home. It is general information. It is not advice about your case.
You must itemize
You can deduct real estate taxes only if you itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040). If you take the standard deduction, you cannot take this deduction. Compare the two totals before you decide.
What counts as a deductible real estate tax
The publication says most state and local governments charge an annual tax on the value of real property. You can deduct the tax if it is assessed uniformly at a like rate on all real property throughout the community. The proceeds must go to general community or governmental purposes. They cannot be payment for a special privilege or service given to you.
The publication also lists items that are not real estate taxes. A unit charge for a service, such as a charge for each 1,000 gallons of water, is not deductible. A periodic charge for a residential service is not deductible either. Delinquent taxes that the seller owed for an earlier year are not deductible. If you agree to pay them when you buy the home, you treat them as part of the cost of the home.
Escrow accounts
Many monthly house payments include an amount placed in escrow for real estate taxes. You can deduct only the taxes the lender actually paid from escrow to the taxing authority during the year. Your real estate tax bill shows this amount. The total you paid into escrow may be more than that.
Taxes at a sale or purchase
At a sale or purchase, the publication says the seller is treated as paying the property taxes up to the date of sale. The buyer is treated as paying them from the date of sale. Each person deducts only their own share, and only for the year of the sale. The settlement statement usually shows the split.
The publication gives an example. A buyer purchases a home on September 1. The property tax year is the calendar year, and the tax for the year is $730. The buyer owned the home for 122 days of that year. The buyer's deduction is $730 multiplied by 122 and divided by 365, which the publication rounds to $244.
The seller deducts only the part of the tax for the days the seller owned the home. The two shares add up to the full tax for the year.
Money returned to you
If you receive a rebate of real estate taxes you paid this year, you must reduce your deduction by the amount you get back. If the rebate is for a prior year, you may have to include some or all of it in income. The publication refers to the recoveries rules in Publication 525 for that case.
Where the deduction goes
You enter your deductible state and local real estate taxes on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 5b. The publication notes that the overall limit on state and local income, sales, and property taxes increased to $40,000, or $20,000 if you file as married filing separately. For details on that limit, see our guide to the state and local tax limit.
Keep your records
Keep each year's property tax bill, your lender's year-end escrow statement, and proof of any payment you made directly. These records show the amount you paid and the year it covers. They also help you check the figures if the IRS asks about your deduction.
Next steps
Gather your property tax bills, your escrow statement from the lender, and your settlement statement if you bought or sold during the year. Confirm which amounts the lender paid from escrow. Then total your deductions and compare them with the standard deduction. If you own more than one property, or you had a sale, a tax professional can help you check the split.
Sources: Sources: IRS, Publication 530 (2025), Tax Information for Homeowners (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p530.pdf) This is general information, not advice about your specific return.
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