WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 26, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz (PA-13) issued the following statement at today’s House Ways and Means Committee hearing on tax reform and incentives for residential real estate.
“Homeownership has always been a part of the American dream and will continue to be an important part of our economic recovery. For many people in my district and across Pennsylvania, the mortgage interest deduction is their largest tax deduction. In 2010, 1.5 million taxpayers in Pennsylvania claimed this deduction. If the mortgage interest and real estate tax deductions were eliminated, Pennsylvania’s middle class families could see the value of their homes fall by 15 percent. Clearly, this is a significant loss for middle class taxpayers.”
“I am eager to consider proposals to simplify and update the tax code to grow the economy and strengthen America’s middle class. But as we move forward, I am deeply skeptical of proposals that would eliminate the mortgage interest deduction because of the harm it would cause to homeownership and to recovery in the housing sector. This is not the time to remove a provision that has been a pillar for growing and sustaining the middle class.”
