From the Fiscal Times: Number four on their list is an issue National REIA has been working to achieve:
“Republican presidential hopefuls have talked often this year about overhauling the tax code by lowering rates and closing loopholes. Many of those loopholes have become the subject of an annual game in which Congress waits until the last minute — or longer — to reinstate the supposedly temporary provisions after they’ve expired.
The full package of 52 tax breaks, also known as tax extenders, mostly affect business and industry, but quite a few also allow everyday Americans to reduce how much they owe Uncle Sam each year. “These are popular tax provisions that Americans like to claim,” said Jackie Perlman, senior tax research analyst with the Tax Institute at H&R Block. “They are expired or need to be renewed. And it’s dependent on Congress to do that.”
4. Mortgage debt relief
Typically, the amount of debt that has been canceled or forgiven is taxable. But since 2007, homeowners who had their mortgage restructured or debt forgiven from a foreclosure or short sale were exempt from this taxation up to $2 million under the Mortgage Debt Relief Act. Last year, this deduction was taken on 336,501 tax returns worth $29.42 billion (or $87,422 per return), according to the Tax Institute.
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