Health care is on top of the Senate’s agenda right now but tax reform is not far behind. The exact shape of reform won’t be known until a proposal is put forward, but lawmakers in the House several months ago released a reform concept that raises serious concerns for the real estate industry. The administration has put something out as well that, in its broad outlines, shares many of the concepts of the House plan.
NAR has ben communicating its concerns about the concepts for some time now, but it’s important for you, as a real estate professional, to have a good sense of what’s being talked about and to ask hard questions on behalf of your industry. That’s why NAR is hosting a live webcast on Wednesday, July 12, that will give you a chance to ask questions about the House and administration concepts.
In broad outline, the House concept 1) doubles the standard deduction, 2) eliminates itemized deductions except those for mortgage interest and charitable giving, and 3) lowers tax rates and increases the number of brackets.
On the face of it, it’s good to lower rates and double the standard deduction. But for most households, those two changes, when combined with other changes that are contemplated, are not enough to offset what’s lost by the elimination of most itemized deductions. And yet most households will still end up taking the standard deduction as the better of the two choices.
Of course, any tax reform that’s proposed will be far more complicated than this simple scenario. There are many other factors included in the House concept that would come into play, but analyses NAR has had done are clear that most middle-income households will pay more taxes and receive no benefit from investing in their community as a homeowner.
What’s important is to learn about these reform concepts for yourself so you can decide what makes sense and what doesn’t. The webcast NAR is hosting is intended to help you do that. Here’s information on registering for it:
What Tax Reform Means for Real Estate
Live webcast
Wednesday, July 12, 2 p.m., Eastern time
Presenters:
Evan Liddiard, NAR Senior Legislative Policy Representative
Danielle Hale, NAR Managing Director of Housing Research
Sign up
Powered by WPeMatico