BY: LISA PREVOST
A new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts reinforces what many economists have been saying for some time: the mortgage interest deduction primarily benefits high-income homeowners.
The report charts the geographic distribution of those using the deduction across and within the 50 states. The states with the largest percentages of tax filers claiming the deduction are clustered along the East and West Coasts, in more affluent areas with relatively high property values.
A minority of tax filers benefit from the deduction, primarily because it is restricted to those who itemize deductions on their federal income tax returns. Only about 30 percent of taxpayers itemize, rather than take the standard deduction.
Read full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/realestate/benefiting-from-interest-deductions.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&ref=realestate&adxnnlx=1368820016-DRSvG3gWzdQvdhiAnGybyg
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