Thursday, February 26, 2009

Obama proposes mortgage-deduction cut in budget 2010

the Obama administration’s new fiscal year 2010 budget proposes to cap the mortgage deductions on “higher income” households — well, if you consider making $208,850 extremely high income.
“The Administration’s Budget includes a proposal to limit the tax rate at which high-income taxpayers can take itemized deductions to 28 percent — and the initial reserve fund would be funded in part through this provision This provision would raise $318 billion over 10 years.”

The Wall Street Journal reports …

Households paying income taxes at the 33% and 35% rates can currently claim deductions at those rates. Under the Obama proposal, they could deduct only 28% of the value of those payments.

The changes would be phased in gradually over the next few years. For the 2009 tax year, the 33% tax bracket starts with couples with taxable earnings of $208,850, when adjusted for personal exemptions and various deductible expenses. A taxpayer in the top bracket paying $1,000 of mortgage interest, for example, would see a tax break worth $350 reduced to $280.

During his presidential campaign, Mr. Obama promised not to raise taxes on families earning under $250,000 a year, and the administration said that this plan would roughly line up with that limit.
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Sunday, November 16, 2008

Homeless warning amid unemployment in UK, From Mortgage News

Homeless warning amid unemployment - The UK is facing a "homelessness time bomb" as a third of people would lose their homes within three months if they lost their job, a survey said.
Original enclosure

Thursday, November 13, 2008

FHFA Announced Loan Modification Program for Fannie, Freddie

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director James Lockhart announced on Tuesday that the FHFA, along with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, would be adopting a new, streamlined approach to loan modifications.

Lockhart said the loan modification program, which he is asking to be adopted as the industry standard, will take effect Dec. 15. The new approach will target high-risk borrowers who have missed more than three payments, and should help homeowners modify loans and prevent foreclosures, he said.

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