Mortgage interest deduction.....

[dukluk]

I heard those azzholes in Washington are considering the deletion of mortage interest, as a tax deduction....anyone with a mortgage is gonna take a bad hit at tax time in future years, if this passes....they're aren't calling it a tax increase, however....just a tax deduction deletion....what the h3ll???....what's the latest on this bunch of bullsh!t???

First, the mortgage bailout for the deadbeats(I'm not talking about the working folks who lost their jobs), and now us taxpayers have got to pay for those deadbeat's upside-down mortgages....somebody needs an booty-whooping!!!

[mshunter77]

Well people voted for obama and the democrats because they wanted "change", well they are getting "change", but nobody is gonna have any change in their pocket.

[MemphisStockBroker]

You need to be more compassionate.... a white guy with a job just needs to help out more, according to Obama.
Didnt you hear his speech yesterday ?

Be American, and support those Democrats in the Delta that need to sit on their porch and drink their 40's...
I mean, it is a basic human right to drive around in a Lexus with your cell phone, and have food stamps.... correct ???

[rolo]

A little devil's advocate here...

Why should mortgage interest be deductible? Is that fair to a renter?

BTW, "because that's the way it's always been" is not a good answer.

I've never understood the logic in that deduction. Don't get me wrong, I use it every year, but I'm all for a simpler tax code.

I'd be glad to give more money as long as they made it so that people couldn't actually make money on filing their taxes. There are many people who actually have a negative federal income tax rate, meaning that they actually make money by filing.

If you earn an income, you should have to pay something. A dollar. Two dollars. Just anything. We have enough programs already to help people who don't earn enough to make it. The tax code should not be in the business of transferring wealth directly.

If they'd just make it so that you couldn't get more money back than you put in during the year, I wouldn't mind losing my mortgage deduction. Fair is fair.

[skywalker]

I doubt they will pass that. Many people would finally understand that paying your house off early is a very GOOD thing to do......How many times have I heard the argument 'but I get to count my mortgage interest on my taxes'............people just gulping down the kool-aid.

[stang67]

A little devil's advocate here...

Why should mortgage interest be deductible? Is that fair to a renter?

BTW, "because that's the way it's always been" is not a good answer.

It's done to encourage people to invest in a house. I'm no economist, so I can't say exactly why the gov't wants to stimulate housing purchases. I do know that somehow it's a good thing for the economy when the real estate market is doing well. It's a subsidy of sorts, an investment by the gov't to stimulate a market.

I don't own a house because it's a tax shelter, though.

[farmerc83]

Could the deduction given to individual homeowners be because the mortgage company is paying taxes on the interest when they report it as revenue?

[stang67]

Could the deduction given to individual homeowners be because the mortgage company is paying taxes on the interest when they report it as revenue?

I don't think so. When I buy a candy bar, the store pays taxes on the $0.79 I pay them, yet I can't deduct that $0.79 from my taxable income like I can with mortgage interest. Could be wrong, though.

[Smoke68]

I'm with you Rolo. I owned a house only for the last 2 years of my life, and like you I use the deduction because it's there. I don't see a point in it though.

I'm not for removing the deduction and carrying with business as usual. But if they want to do some things that basically shows itself as a tax increase and CUT ENTITLEMENTS at the same time and get a balanced budget law passed, you won't see me complaining. Nothing gets me more hacked off than to hear a politician say it is his responsibility to create jobs!

A little devil's advocate here...

Why should mortgage interest be deductible? Is that fair to a renter?

BTW, "because that's the way it's always been" is not a good answer.

I've never understood the logic in that deduction. Don't get me wrong, I use it every year, but I'm all for a simpler tax code.

I'd be glad to give more money as long as they made it so that people couldn't actually make money on filing their taxes. There are many people who actually have a negative federal income tax rate, meaning that they actually make money by filing.

If you earn an income, you should have to pay something. A dollar. Two dollars. Just anything. We have enough programs already to help people who don't earn enough to make it. The tax code should not be in the business of transferring wealth directly.

If they'd just make it so that you couldn't get more money back than you put in during the year, I wouldn't mind losing my mortgage deduction. Fair is fair.

[rolo]

It's done to encourage people to invest in a house.

Bingo.

It also encourages us to stretch out the repayment, which lowers equity while maximizing monthly cash flow so that we can blow our money on retail goods that go down in value.

It's artificial stimulus. It's that kind of thinking that builds bubbles. No good comes from it other than short term gain.

If they really wanted to help us, they'd be incentivizing the 100% down payment plan, but the bank lobbyists wouldn't allow that.

[stang67]

If they really wanted to help us, they'd be incentivizing the 100% down payment plan, but the bank lobbyists wouldn't allow that.

That's a good point.

[Deltaquack]

"incentivizing"

Did you just create a new word? I had to say it a few times.

[Po Monkey Lounger]

Why should mortgage interest be deductible? Is that fair to a renter?

BTW, "because that's the way it's always been" is not a good answer.

Well, you are right. This probably should never have been deductable in the first place. Nor should most, if not all, of the deductions. The purpose of taxes should be primarily to raise revenue, not manipulate the population, promote "social justice", redistribute wealth, etc. etc.

The problem with just getting rid of this deduction now, is that it would amount to a very large tax increase. Our tax rates are higher than they should be, IF we are going to start eliminating deductions such as the mortgage interest deduction. The rates are set artificially high in anticipation of the use of the deductions. There are many who may not have purchased a home in the first place, or may have purchased a smaller, less expensive home, IF they had known that this deduction would be taken away. Changing the game in mid-stream will be a difficult sell.

I would be in favor of eliminating ALL deductions IF they would lower the income tax rates. A flatter, lower rate, IMO, would result in overall higher tax revenues for the government, and make tax filings much simpler and less costly. Why would it raise more money you might ask? Well, many of the very wealthy pay LESS of a percentage of their income in taxes than most of us here do because they can afford to take advantage of the many deductions and loopholes in the tax laws that enable such folks to shelter income. When you are spending most of what you bring in after taxes, there ain't much to shelter. For instance, I saw a statistic recently that indicated that Warren Buffet payed a net income tax rate below 15%. I have to pay more than 15% of my income. And I bet most of your here do too. My point is not to start a class war against the rich, as I do not advocate that anyone pay any more of a percentage than I have to in income taxes. I just don't think that I should have to pay more taxes than others as a percentage of my total income. I think that is a fair expectation.

Personally, I would like to see a combination of Steve Forbes flat tax plan, and the "fair tax" plan that advocates for a national sales tax in exchange for doing away with most other forms of taxes. If such were adopted, in conjunction with a requirement for a balanced federal budget, then we could get out of this financial jam within a reasonable period of time and immediately stop the bleeding.

[Smoke68]

There's way too much common sense in that post for 95% of our politicians to understand.

Why should mortgage interest be deductible? Is that fair to a renter?

BTW, "because that's the way it's always been" is not a good answer.

Well, you are right. This probably should never have been deductable in the first place. Nor should most, if not all, of the deductions. The purpose of taxes should be primarily to raise revenue, not manipulate the population, promote "social justice", redistribute wealth, etc. etc.

The problem with just getting rid of this deduction now, is that it would amount to a very large tax increase. Our tax rates are higher than they should be, IF we are going to start eliminating deductions such as the mortgage interest deduction. The rates are set artificially high in anticipation of the use of the deductions. There are many who may not have purchased a home in the first place, or may have purchased a smaller, less expensive home, IF they had known that this deduction would be taken away. Changing the game in mid-stream will be a difficult sell.

I would be in favor of eliminating ALL deductions IF they would lower the income tax rates. A flatter, lower rate, IMO, would result in overall higher tax revenues for the government, and make tax filings much simpler and less costly. Why would it raise more money you might ask? Well, many of the very wealthy pay LESS of a percentage of their income in taxes than most of us here do because they can afford to take advantage of the many deductions and loopholes in the tax laws that enable such folks to shelter income. When you are spending most of what you bring in after taxes, there ain't much to shelter. For instance, I saw a statistic recently that indicated that Warren Buffet payed a net income tax rate below 15%. I have to pay more than 15% of my income. And I bet most of your here do too. My point is not to start a class war against the rich, as I do not advocate that anyone pay any more of a percentage than I have to in income taxes. I just don't think that I should have to pay more taxes than others as a percentage of my total income. I think that is a fair expectation.

Personally, I would like to see a combination of Steve Forbes flat tax plan, and the "fair tax" plan that advocates for a national sales tax in exchange for doing away with most other forms of taxes. If such were adopted, in conjunction with a requirement for a balanced federal budget, then we could get out of this financial jam within a reasonable period of time and immediately stop the bleeding.

[GILREATH]

they're not "people", like you and me