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House Republican Says He
Can Block...
Mortgage Interest Deduction Revisions |
FOX
23 News.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican lawmaker said
Thursday he has assembled enough support to kill an idea advanced by
President Bush's tax advisory board to replace the mortgage interest
deduction.
Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill., said he and six other Republicans on the
House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax laws, oppose the
proposal to convert the popular deduction to a credit and limit the
size of mortgages eligible for a tax break.
Their seven votes against it would kill the proposal if it ever
comes before the committee, Weller said.
"The home mortgage interest deduction, the state and local tax
deduction, are the most important middle class tax breaks in the tax
code today," Weller said. "Any of these types of proposals are dead
on arrival in Congress."
Weller and Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., are collecting signatures on a
letter telling the White House that they are concerned about the
effect the change could have on homeowners and the real estate
market.
"To jeopardize these deductions would be to place these benefits at
risk and potentially reverse the progress our nation has made toward
allowing every citizen to participate in the American Dream,"
according to a draft of the letter.
The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform issued its
recommendations last week. They will be reviewed by the Treasury
Department before the president formally presents them to Congress.
"The president has charged us with presenting tax reform
recommendations that respect the importance of homeownership in this
country," Treasury spokesman Taylor Griffin said.
The panel recommended redirecting tax breaks for homeownership
toward middle-income taxpayers by replacing the mortgage interest
deduction with a 15 percent tax credit.
The panel also urged the president to limit the size of mortgages
eligible for the tax break to a size closer to regional housing
prices, an idea meant to curb the overconsumption of housing.
The proposal has met stiff resistance from the housing industry.
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858-272-5510
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Personal
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| Gar C. May, Broker/RealtorŪ |
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