(NewsNation) — When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which President Donald Trump signed in 2017, expires at the end of the year, current caps on mortgage interest deductions would end as well.
Trump has said he wants to extend the act, though it could be pricey. The New York Times reported last month that top Republicans are passing around ideas to cover the cost of these tax cuts.
A draft document obtained by the Times and confirmed by a source to CBS News says that one of House Republicans’ suggestions includes eliminating the home mortgage interest deduction altogether, which they say will result in about $1 trillion in savings over 10 years. Another option floated was lowering the dedication’s cap to $500,000.This move would save $50 billion in the span of a decade, the draft document said.
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What is a mortgage interest deduction?
The mortgage interest deduction can reduce people’s taxable income by the amount of interest paid on the loan during the year, Bankrate writes.
According to the National Realtors Association, the value of this deduction depends on the amount of your mortgage; how far along you are in paying it off; your interest rate; and your tax bracket.
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, itemizing homeowners homeowners can deduct mortgage interest on up to $750,000 worth of principal from their taxes on either their first or second residence.
However, the Tax Foundation said this limitation will revert back to $1 million after Dec. 31, 2025 unless the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is extended.
Because high-income taxpayers tend to itemize more often, the benefits of the deduction go primarily to them, the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said.
Middle- and lower-income families “don’t gain as much since their mortgage debts aren’t as large,” Nest Seekers International, a global real estate brokerage, wrote. “Some do not even possess a mortgage or pay federal income taxes, meaning that they cannot even qualify for a deduction.”
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Will caps on mortgage interest deductions be extended?
The New York Times writes that getting rid of mortgage interest deductions is likely to face “near-insurmountable opposition” from lobbyists and some lawmakers and that real estate agents and legislators with many homeowners with “most likely balk” at such a measure.
“When it comes to the reconciliation process, there are dozens of options of what is a budgetary possibility,” Shannon McGahn, Chief Advocacy Officer for the National Association of REALTORS, said in a statement to NewsNation.
However, she added that the Trump Administration and bipartisan lawmakers’ “sharp focus” on housing costs and supply “reduces the probability of raising taxes on homeowners as part of those efforts.”
NewsNation reached out to the White House for comment on House Republicans’ proposal.
