Q: I own two homes and share ownership with my brother of a third family house and property that is unoccupied. The third property was inherited from our mother this year. Can I deduct 50 percent of the property taxes on the inherited property from my federal income taxes?

A: In short, you probably can’t deduct the real estate taxes on the inherited property.

That property is not an investment property so you can’t deduct the taxes on that basis. You also won’t be able to deduct the real estate taxes as the property is neither your primary home nor your second home. For now, you seem to be out of luck.

For more information, you might want to talk to an accountant or your tax preparer to see if there are other circumstances specific to your situation that might allow you to deduct those real estate taxes on your federal income tax form.

Oct. 30, 2008.