The mortgage interest deduction -- retain it, modify it or eliminate it?

By HawgWyld on 2:00 AM

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It appears 2011 will be a banner year for the mortgage interest deduction -- it could either be scaled back, cut out or retained (thus ensuring it will burrow further into the tax code, of course).

The facts are, quite simply, these. The government is broke after bailing out every group under the sun over the past couple of years. Last year, the feds decided it might be good to cut back a bit on spending. It appears 2011 will be the day (or, rather, year) of reckoning.

In this climate, then, it's no surprise that the federal government is taking a hard look at the mortgage interest deduction as something to eliminate in an attempt to raise some revenue. It's also not a surprise that money-flinging interest groups such as the National Association of Realtors are throwing a fit about suggestions to touch the deduction at all. And the general public? Polls show they want to keep the deduction.

First Arkansas News
has launched a series taking a hard look at the deduction. You'll find the first part of tat series here and the second part will show up, well, when it shows up, you know?