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US Senate Approves Mortgage Tax Relief,
by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) won passage on Friday of
legislation offering tax relief to American families caught in the subprime
mortgage crisis.
When debt is forgiven on a home loan, the homeowner must normally count that
debt forgiveness as income and pay taxes on it. The bill approved last week
as an amendment to House legislation creates a three-year exception for debt
forgiveness on home loans – helping families already unable to meet their
mortgages to avoid incurring large tax bills as well. The bill also extends
a provision allowing homeowners to deduct mortgage insurance payments from their
taxable income.
“Homeowners who are already in trouble on the mortgage certainly can’t
afford a big hit from the tax man too,” commented Baucus. He continued: “Upheaval
in the housing market has turned the world upside down for far too many families,
and Congress needs to help these folks climb out of a financial hole. This mortgage
tax bill will help to ease the burdens of homeowners who are hurting today."
The measure was also supported by the leading Republican on the Finance Panel,
Chuck Grassley.
“Many Americans are facing real financial difficulties because of increased
mortgage payments," Grassley, lead sponsor of the legislation approved
on Friday, stated.
He added: "These families are confronting the reality of defaulting and
losing their home or working with lenders to reduce the loan amount. As these
families struggle to reduce their home loan debt, they’re hit by taxes
due to debt forgiveness from the lender. It’s right to offer them tax
relief. I hope it will help them keep their homes. I also hope it’ll help
the nation recover from the housing decline over the next three years and get
this part of the economy back on track. I look forward to fast enactment of
this provision.”
In addition to tax relief for debt forgiveness and mortgage insurance payments,
the bill includes: tax relief for volunteer firefighters and emergency medical
technicians; help to expand housing options for college students with children;
protection of tax relief for homeowners after the death of a spouse; and flexibility
to help co-op tenant/owners deduct real estate taxes and mortgage insurance.
The bill is fully offset by increased penalties for failure to file S corporation
returns or partnership returns, and new requirements for the payment of corporate
estimated taxes. It is now necessary for the House to pass the updated legislation
and send it to the President for signature.
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