5 ms·
Essentially it's a tax write-off for the wealthy.
by selectodude 13y ago
Essentially it's a tax write-off for the wealthy.
- Domenic_S 13y agoNot at all. The deduction (all itemized deductions in fact) phases out starting at $300k household income, which is pretty trivial for a 2-techie couple in an urban tech hub.
- gojomo 13y agoA "2 techie couple in an urban tech hub" is "the wealthy".
- Domenic_S 13y agoI disagree - but even if I concede, you're proving my point.
- dionidium 13y ago$300k household income, which is pretty trivial Anything over $250k puts you in the top 2% of U.S. households. Your definition of words like "trivial" and "wealthy" might be different from mine.
- prostoalex 13y agoNo, because wealthy families are typically hit by AMT, not income tax, and mortgage interest is only deducted under income tax. It's a write-off for someone who's making enough money to find it worthwhile to itemize but not enough to pay AMT. Wealthy families also have access to higher-quality asset-backed loans which typically come with lower interest rates.
- mercutio2 13y agoThis is inaccurate. The AMT disqualifies home equity loan interest, but not purchase loan mortgage interest. It does remove the deduction for property taxes (and other state/local taxes), which is perhaps what you were thinking of.
- smsm42 13y agoUnless you call "wealthy" anybody who owns 20% of a house, not really.