Consumer Support for Real Estate Tax Deduction
Are consumers in favor of the tax reform proposals enacted a presidential panel last month? According to a recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), given a choice of simplifying federal tax laws or retaining current housing incentives, Americans prefer to retain current housing incentives over these proposed changes in federal tax laws.
The survey was taken of 1,001 adults. It found that about 68% of participants “favor retaining deductions for mortgage interest and state and local taxes over a plan to simplify the current tax code,” the home builders’ group reported.
“The survey offers a cautionary note for those in the administration and on Capitol Hill who may be tempted to endorse the recommendations of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, which would wipe out popular tax incentives that promote home ownership and affordable housing,” said Jerry Howard, executive vice president and CEO of NAHB.
The White House and Treasury Department have yet to comment on the advisory panel’s proposal, which was presented to the administration on Nov. 1 as part of an overall attempt to overhaul the tax code.
Public reaction to tax proposals
Commissioned by NAHB to determine the public reaction to revamping the current tax system, the survey found that 79% of respondents support federal tax incentives to promote homeownership, while 82% believe the government should use the tax code to encourage affordable housing.
“Registered Democratic and Republican voters in all age groups view efforts to tamper with home interest deductibility as a major threat to their retirement security and their ability to pay for their children’s college educations,” said Lance Tarrance, who, along with Thomas Riehle, is a partner of RT Strategies, the company that conducted the survey. “For many older home owners, the equity built up in a home also provides an important hedge against unanticipated health care costs.”
The focus of the changes
About 71% of survey respondents oppose the idea of changing the tax code to encourage people to invest more in stocks and bonds and less in the homes that they own. “And that is exactly what the advisory tax panel’s plan would do,” Howard said.
“As we learned in watching the recent California initiative battles, complex proposals tend to lose support, not gain support, as they get more public attention,” said Riehle. “This proposal starts with no real core of supporters.”
If you’d like to voice your opinion about how the tac codes would affect any Florida home loan in the future, there are many outlets through which you may do so. No time frame has been given for any government feedback on the proposed changes, so there is still time to voice any dissent or support for the initiatives in question.
