How does eliminating the mortgage credit NOT raise taxes?
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Obama and Biden will dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than five minutes. Obama and Biden will ensure that the IRS uses the information it already gets from banks and employers to give taxpayers the option of pre-filled tax forms to verify, sign and return. Experts estimate that the Obama-Biden proposal will save Americans up to 200 million total hours of work and aggravation and up to $2 billion in tax preparer fees.
I bet H&R Block ain't happy.
For some, it will probably work. For others, maybe not. Sounds like it won't delve into deductions (how could they possibly know?), just reported income. I use TurboTax every year and it comes pre-filled with a lot of info, so it only takes me 20 - 30 minutes to do our taxes, including itemizing (so I probably won't take them up on their offer).
Can someone point me to the mortgage credit part? Never mind, thanks LordBalfor.
"proposal will save Americans up to 200 million total hours of work and aggravation and "up to $2 billion in tax preparer fees."
"up to $2 billion in tax preparer fees."
That last part...I thought he was going to put people to work not put them out of work!
No, I don't think that streamlining the tax form to where it only takes 5 minutes is the start of the nanny state. Why should it take me HOURS to do this, even with the help of turbotax or other PC tools. All my income is reported by my employer and my dividends and capital gains are reported by my various brokers. I think we should be able to get to a point where most folks simply get a bill from the IRS for any balance due or we get a check if we overpaid income taxes during the year.
Regarding the mortgage interest deduction, I've always wondered why this is even allowed. Like a lot of things in our tax codes, it was put there for a reason and that seems to be to spur home ownership, and that usually means that lobbyists for trade groups had that done, ages ago. Other deductions for interest were stopped in years past, but this one was allowed to continue as it adds to the desire to have a mortgage. I say take it out and stop using the treasury to further subsidize the housing and mortgage businesses, it skews the market by arbitrarily raising the demand. If you take away this deduction, it should make home ownership a tad less attractive and thus might work to lower the cost of homes.
Lastly, I consider paying ANY sort of interest is a suckers game and the only interest I pay is on a small mortgage, which I'm working to pay off asap, notwithstanding what the "experts" have to say. My POV is that if I pay $5,000 per year in home mortgage interest and get 17% ($850) of that back on my annual form 1040, then I'm still OUT 83% ($4150) that I'd rather have to invest or spend on ME. Why give a banker that $4150 each year?
Ha, exactly. I just laugh when people advise against paying off a mortgage, so you can "write it off" - sheesh first you have to pay the interest and then you get a tiny portion of that back. The only time that makes sense is if you have high interest credit card debt or a foolproof way to get more interest for your money than you are paying on your mortgage. Then instead of paying off your mortgage early, pay those CC's and take out a home equity loan, if you can get it, to pay off high interest bills.
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The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
Personally, I'm loving it. Itemizing last year did nothing for me, I ended up taking the standard deduction. And I only bought my house in 2003. The interest on my mortgage just isn't all that much.
Since you bought your house in 2003, the interest paid per year for a deduction should be more than Obama's $500 proposal.
No offense, but either you have a very low mortgage (dollars) or your CPA is an idiot. And if you're doing your own taxes, then you need a CPA.
Since you bought your house in 2003, the interest paid per year for a deduction should be more than Obama's $500 proposal.
No offense, but either you have a very low mortgage (dollars) or your CPA is an idiot. And if you're doing your own taxes, then you need a CPA.
I do have a very low mortgage. And a very low interest rate.
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