Mortgage interest deduction on Trump’s chopping block

Mortgage interest deduction on Trump’s chopping block

Shawnee Mission, KS · Member since 2016 · 716 posts · 313 votes

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/01/heads-up-homeowners-mortgage-interest-deduction-on-trumps-chopping-block.html

The mortgage interest deduction is already capped at loans up to $1 million if you're married and filing jointly, and at $500,000 if you file separately. That said, the median price of a home in the United States is just more than $200,000, so not a lot of people make it to that cap. The vast majority of those who do benefit earn more than $100,000 a year and are not the most cost-burdened homeowners.

The deduction is very popular, but it benefits far fewer taxpayers than one might think. The current homeownership rate is around 62 percent, but of those homeowners, one-third do not have a mortgage. They own their homes outright, so the deduction would not apply to them.

Some homeowners, mainly middle- and lower-income families either don't pay federal income taxes or don't itemize, so the deduction wouldn't apply to them either. Only about 40 million (or 22.5 percent) of the 173 million households in the U.S. benefit from the mortgage interest deduction, according to the Tax Policy Center.

For those who do itemize, here's how the math works: Let's say you have a $500,000 30-year-fixed mortgage at 4.5 percent, and you're in the 33 percent tax bracket. In the first year of your loan, the deduction saves you just more than $10,000 in taxes.

If the Trump administration caps deductions at even $100,000, as Mnuchin suggested, that would not hit most borrowers because on that $500,000 (which is more than most loans in general) the total annual interest payment was about $23,000. Granted, homeowners may have other deductions, medical expenses, charitable, religious or otherwise, but most would not make it to $100,000 even with the mortgage.

Despite the small number of borrowers a cap would affect, real estate industry leaders oppose any changes, especially in an environment where they are trying to convince young millennials that a home is a good investment.

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Rental Property Investor · Ramapo, NY · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 108 votes
9y

@Thomas S., it may be a personal lifestyle decision but that's precisely why the government gives a tax incentive. The authors of the tax code wanted to encourage home ownership, which is supposed to embody "the American Dream". Perhaps that is changing now. It's the same reason married couples get a tax break. Uncle Sam wants you to get married. (Well, not you, you're Canadian anyway :-P )

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  • JD, CCIM , Real Estate Broker · Tuscaloosa, AL · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Billy Smith, thank you for the well-thought out explanation of the homeowner's tax deduction.  

    You are right, all prior attempts to curtail this have met with almost rabid reactions from the National Association of Realtors.  

    Truth be told, I think the 2008+ melt down has worked a sea change in the psyche of this country regarding home ownership no longer being the Holy Grail.  Also, an extremely large percentage of millennials do not want to own homes. They've grown up with everything in their lives being virtually instantaneously upgradable to something better and newer, and they like things that way. Home ownership does not fit that model. Also, I think the slow recovery of real estate markets, as compared to the relatively rapid stock market recovery, demonstrates to them that wealth should not be built via home equity, but by other means.  All of this is great new for real estate investors, because it indicates strong markets for SFRs now, and long into the future.

  • Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    9y

    The number impacted is relatively insignificant. The cap will have little to no effect overall.

    The fact is a mortgage interest deduction on a personal home could be done away with entirely. There is no reason the government should be giving a tax incentive on a personal life style decision. That would be a change that will be opposed but it is a ridicules loss of government income. Allowing tenants a tax break on rent payments is a better decision than giving a break to home owners.

  • Rental Property Investor · Ramapo, NY · Member since 2016 · 243 posts · 108 votes
    9y

    @Thomas S., it may be a personal lifestyle decision but that's precisely why the government gives a tax incentive. The authors of the tax code wanted to encourage home ownership, which is supposed to embody "the American Dream". Perhaps that is changing now. It's the same reason married couples get a tax break. Uncle Sam wants you to get married. (Well, not you, you're Canadian anyway :-P )

  • Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    9y

    I have never seen the point. Doesn't really seem to serve any real purpose and just leaves people sitting wishing for something that doesn't exist without hard work not handouts.

    Obviously the majority of investors on here do not believe in dreams they take action and work to achieve a goal others only dream about.

    The "American Dream" should be reintroduced as the "American Goal". What is really needed is to turn peoples thinking around as too many have expectations dependant on the efforts of others rather than their own personal efforts.

    I do not think home ownership incentives do anything but take money from government and give it to individuals as a undeserved bonus. Better to reduce income tax, to stimulate personal spending, and benefit everyone rather than those that have already been successful.

  • Russell BrazilBusiness Member
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    Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
    9y

    NAR will rabidly fight this. Ive also already been in contact with several lawmakers I know to discuss the issue. There will be major pushback from both sides of the aisle on this. This is considered something untouchable by many members of both parties. (Its not as impressive as it sounds, everyone in the DC area personally knows multiple elected officials and staff members that work for them)

  • Investor · Jupiter, FL · Member since 2016 · 31 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    I read that by eliminating or reducing the mortgage interest deduction that it would have a negative impact on the housing market, by approximately 6.9%.  Any thoughts on this?

    http://www.businessinsider.com/homeowners-are-going-to-get-hosed-by-the-republicans-tax-plan-2017-1

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