Careful review of homeowner tax breaks promised

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., promised at a hearing today that proposals to revamp tax breaks for homeowners will get a careful review. The National Association of Realtors was among industry groups, consumer groups, and academics testifying at the hearing. NAR objects to any changes to the home mortgage interest deduction, which saved homeowners (and cost the government) $68 billion in 2012. University of Maryland professor Phil Swagel testified that most of those savings went to those with incomes of more than $100,000. “A pro-growth tax reform will maintain a tax subsidy for housing but reduce the attendant distortions and refocus the tax benefits to families that likely would not be homeowners otherwise,” Swagel said in prepared testimony. Source: Bloomberg.com.