With legislators looking for revenue sources to avert the fiscal cliff, the housing industry once again feels pressure that the mortgage interest tax deduction may be on the block, according to CNNMoney. Their lobbying expenditure has increased from $27 million last year to $30 million this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, with the bulk of that from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). One of the oldest tax breaks that is designed to stimulate home ownership, the Tax Policy Center says it benefits those with incomes over $250,000 a year the most, with tax savings of about $5,460. For those earning $40,000 or less annually, the savings is only $91. With $100 billion in revenue at stake, and House Republican lawmakers for the first time in years eyeing the mortgage interest deduction to reduce the deficit, lobbyists are worried. As MHProNews has learned, Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) says getting rid of the deduction “would throw the housing sector into turmoil … and chill the market just as it is trying to recover.”
