WASHINGTON – Feb. 20 2013 – Critics of the mortgage interest tax deduction (MID) have long argued that the popular write-off used by millions of American homeowners costs the government in the range of $100 billion a year. As a result, the deduction has placed high on the hit list of most tax reformers’ agendas.

Now, though, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation has come up with new estimates. They say that MID incentive actually costs tens of billions of dollars less than the government previously believed.

Because of changes in the economy and tax legislation, the researchers calculate that the cost of the deduction for fiscal 2013 will be $69.7 billion – a big reduction from the committee’s own earlier numbers.

In a projection released three years ago last month, the committee said the cost of the tax break in fiscal 2013 would reach a record high of $134.7 billion.

Source: Boston Herald (02/17/13) Harney, Kenneth R.

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