Tax Break for Mortgage Debt Is Ready for the Wrecking Ball: View

Americans think differently about housing now: Developers have cut back on speculative projects and mortgage bankers view lending standards more soberly. Another important change in attitudes emerged this week when people were asked how they feel about giving up the ability to deduct mortgage interest from their personal income taxes.

Forty-nine percent of respondents in a Bloomberg National Poll said they were willing to abandon the mortgage tax break if it meant lower overall tax rates. Only 45 percent opposed the switch. That’s a sharp contrast with polling patterns of prior years, when the public showed 2-to-1 support for keeping the mortgage deduction. The Bloomberg poll of 1,000 adults conducted June 17-20 has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.