President Obama wants to limit two popular mortgage deductions utilized by wealthy taxpayers. Unfortunately, the President is meeting a tremendous amount of difficulty from entrenched special interest groups. President Obama has proposed that there be a curtailment of tax deductions for mortgage interest payments and charitable contributions from high-income earners.
President Obama’s proposal is that taxpayers in the 33% and 35% tax brackets will only be allowed to deduct their contributions and mortgage interest payments at a rate of 28%. This would affect taxpayers with incomes of $250,000 and up. It is estimated that this would bring in $321 billion dollars into the federal treasury over a period of ten years. This is not the first time reducing tax deductions for mortgage interest has been proposed. In the past, these proposals have been unsuccessful because of resistance from special interest groups.
Intense Lobbying by the Real Estate Industry
Real estate industry groups, as well as not-for-profit lobbying groups, are lobbying heavily in both the Senate and the House of Representatives against limiting tax deductions for mortgage payments and charitable contributions.
The National Association of Home Builders, through its chief executive Jeffrey Howard, has issued a statement that “this is an attack on the middle class.” Where the housing industry is concerned, capping deductions will have a further negative effect on the housing market. These tax deductions are an incentive for home ownership.
Tom Delaney, the head of the National Council of Non-profits, a network of charity organizations, stated, “we look for every opportunity to help policy makers understand the consequences of different proposals.” The National Council of Non-profits are against limiting these tax deductions. Their position is that limiting the charitable deductions will curtail donations to charities by large donors.
The fifty-four most generous donors in America in the year 2010 gave $3.3 billion dollars to charities. Charities are reliant on donations from wealthy individuals. Charities throughout the country strongly oppose any changes regarding mortgage deductions for individuals who make over $250,000 a year. Individual families in New York State that earn more than $250,000 a year are not wealthy. They are middle class!
Foreclosure Defense In New York
The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo assists it’s clients in applying for mortgage modifications. In situations where the mortgage modifications program fail to approve clients applications, the law office represents them in foreclosure proceedings. Our attorneys attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. They defend clients from defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending issues, bad faith on behalf of financial institutions and all aspects of real estate litigation. Call for a free consultation at 516- 561-6645, 1-800-344-6431 or 718-350-2802.
