Posted on 12/11/2012 6:52:48 AM PST by Hemingway's Ghost
The generous mortgage-interest tax deduction that homeowners have long enjoyed could be diminished or eliminated as part of efforts to reduce the federal deficit, disproportionately hurting Massachusetts and other regions where real estate is especially costly.
Proposals to change the deduction include limiting it to the 28 percent tax bracket and lower; converting the deduction to a less generous tax credit; reducing the maximum allowed mortgage balance from $1.1 million to $500,000; and eliminating the benefit for second homes and equity loans, according to the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., nonpartisan think tank.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
“The generous mortgage-interest tax deduction..”
I guess that means we’ve been spoiled for too long.
Talk about killing the American Dream — first push an agenda to convince people that gov’t freebies are better than work, and now make difficult for those few who do work to own a home.
I wonder sometimes what planet liberals originated on, because I am beginning to doubt it was Earth.
This has been coming since they eliminated credit card and other loan interest deductions.
- They buy into the class warfare argument lock, stock, and barrel, and sign onto the notion of tax increases ONLY because they're punitive on a certain class of people they feel deserves to be punished.
- Which gives the powers that be the leverage they need to stick the knife in everyone's back.
And what, now, is so different than it was a decade ago when the leftists wanted to push for home ownership so bad that they, oh, I don't know, blew up the whole American economy over it?
Political opportunism taken to radical extremes.
Rahm Emmanuel — “Never let a crisis go to waste.”
This, ladies and gents, is not accidental.
Long live government tyranny!(/not)
Mark Muro, policy director of Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program, said changes to the century-old tax break are probably on the way — either as part of ongoing talks in Washington, D.C., between congressional leaders and President Obama to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, or sometime next year.
“This is moving rapidly from the unthinkable to the inevitable,” Muro said.
But he does not believe it will have a devastating effect on most homeowners. The costs of minimizing or dropping the deduction, he said, “are largely going to be borne by those who can afford it.”
Another entitlement cut.
I was explaining to my grandson why owning a home was better than renting. Well, somehow the benefits of home ownership are dwindling—negative equity being at the top of the list and now losing the mortgage interest deduction. Hummmmm take away the proterty taxes, mortgage insurance, home insurance, upkeep expenditures and compare it to the low rentals in areas close to me, I’m seriously beginning to wonder why the heck I’m doing this!!!
Well, yeah... you may have to pay more in taxes, but look at all the benefits...
Our only saving grace, as conservatives, is that the Democrats are trying to pork those who voted for them every which way 'til Sunday. A smart GOP (ha ha ha ha ha!) would trumpet this from the hilltops, showing how the Democrats are really raising taxes on the middle class when they swore they were only hitting the fat cats . . .
This won't kill the American dream, it will just change how prices are set on houses.
Tax policy should not be used to encourage or discourage behavior, it should be used to raise revenue. Any change to tax policy that removes behavioral incentives is a good thing. There should be more of it.
A perfect example of how people are against “spreading the wealth” until it is their cow that is getting gored.
The home mortgage deduction is a transfer of money from people that do not have a mortgage to people who do have a mortgage.
It’s a form of spreading the wealth around—period.
...take away the property taxes, mortgage insurance, home insurance, upkeep expenditures and compare it to the low rentals in areas close to me, I’m seriously beginning to wonder why the heck I’m doing this
I used to be a homeowner. I used to be married, before my then-wife chose to leave me. Home ownership and marriage went together like a horse and carriage. When the marriage fell apart, I stopped owning a house. I've been living in rental housing ever since. That didn't save me from the housing crash -- I had to move out suddenly when my landlord was foreclosed on. But at least I didn't lose equity.
I have single friends who own their own homes and condos...and so I end up helping out on the weekends with maintenance and such. A couple of weeks ago, I was shoveling sand into bags because of a pending flood rain.
As a long-time renter, I understand why there is the home mortgage deduction, and I benefited from that deduction by paying lower rent. That's the point that some renters miss.
Those low rentals stem from the deductions you state: property tax, mortgage insurance, home insurance, and upkeep. Take those away and you will see rents jump.
I think they ought to eliminate the local and state tax deductions as well. It would hit the blue staters the hardest.
Secondly, but most importantly, such a deduction shouldn't be the determining factor when purchasing a house. If you need such a deduction to afford the house, then the house costs too much.
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