Replacing the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction
Released: February 2013
Related Topics: Tax Policy, Effective Government
Authors:
- Alan D. Viard • Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
Introduction
The federal tax treatment of owner-occupied housing cries out for reform. Current tax policy offers unwarranted subsidies for the purchase of expensive homes by high-income taxpayers, but does little to promote homeownership by those of more modest means. To address these problems, I propose to replace the mortgage interest deduction with a 15 percent refundable credit and to reduce the size of the mortgages eligible for the credit while providing transition relief. Although this proposal is not ideal in every respect, it offers an effective way to scale back and better target the tax system’s housing tax breaks while raising revenue in a progressive manner. Over ten years, such a proposal could increase revenues by approximately $300 billion.
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