“The American people deserve better”
The National Association of Home Builders expressed its disappointment with a mortgage tax proposal the Republican Party is expected to release Wednesday.
"Lawmakers missed a golden opportunity to give the American people a tax reform package that would boost middle-class families and promote greater housing opportunity for Americans across the economic spectrum,” Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Kerrville, Texas said in a statement Monday.
"This plan is particularly disappointing, given that the nation's home builders warned that the proposal would severely diminish the effectiveness of the mortgage interest deduction and presented alternative policies that would retain an effective housing tax incentive in the tax code.”
The association is accusing House Speaker Paul Ryan of reneging on an original proposal that would have established a homeownership tax credit that would have benefited tens of millions of American households.
NAHB said it had been working with leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee on a tax incentive that would boost the middle class. As of last week, NAHB believed the proposal was a done deal.
However, it was recently told by the House leadership that the credit will be removed from the bill.
"By sharply reducing the number of taxpayers who would itemize, what's left is a tax bill that essentially eviscerates the mortgage interest deduction and strips the tax code of its most vital homeownership tax benefit. This tax blueprint will harm home values, act as a tax on existing home owners and force many younger, aspiring home buyers out of the market.
"Given that owning a home is the largest asset for most American households, it makes little sense to offer a tax bill that effectively abandons the nation's long-standing commitment to housing,” MacDonald said. "This plan will hurt millions of hard-working American families and marginalize homeownership. The American people deserve better."
"Lawmakers missed a golden opportunity to give the American people a tax reform package that would boost middle-class families and promote greater housing opportunity for Americans across the economic spectrum,” Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Kerrville, Texas said in a statement Monday.
"This plan is particularly disappointing, given that the nation's home builders warned that the proposal would severely diminish the effectiveness of the mortgage interest deduction and presented alternative policies that would retain an effective housing tax incentive in the tax code.”
The association is accusing House Speaker Paul Ryan of reneging on an original proposal that would have established a homeownership tax credit that would have benefited tens of millions of American households.
NAHB said it had been working with leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee on a tax incentive that would boost the middle class. As of last week, NAHB believed the proposal was a done deal.
However, it was recently told by the House leadership that the credit will be removed from the bill.
"By sharply reducing the number of taxpayers who would itemize, what's left is a tax bill that essentially eviscerates the mortgage interest deduction and strips the tax code of its most vital homeownership tax benefit. This tax blueprint will harm home values, act as a tax on existing home owners and force many younger, aspiring home buyers out of the market.
"Given that owning a home is the largest asset for most American households, it makes little sense to offer a tax bill that effectively abandons the nation's long-standing commitment to housing,” MacDonald said. "This plan will hurt millions of hard-working American families and marginalize homeownership. The American people deserve better."
