{"id":6960,"date":"2017-11-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/nar-gops-tax-plan-attacks-homeownership\/"},"modified":"2017-11-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T00:00:00","slug":"nar-gops-tax-plan-attacks-homeownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/nar-gops-tax-plan-attacks-homeownership\/","title":{"rendered":"NAR: GOP\u2019s Tax Plan \u2018Attacks Homeownership\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Republican strategist Steve Schmidt predicted during the REALTORS\u00ae Conference & Expo in Chicago on Saturday that Congress would not pass the GOP\u2019s tax proposal. Congressional Republicans are pushing the bill, he said, simply because they need a legislative victory. Read more.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The recently released GOP tax reform plan would decrease corporate tax rates by 43 percent while raising taxes on millions of middle-class homeowners. \u201cThis plan attacks homeownership and sticks future generations with a $1.5 trillion price tag,\u201d National Association of REALTORS\u00ae 2017 President William E. Brown says.<\/p>\n

The bill, called the \u201cTax Cuts and Jobs Act,\u201d would lower some tax rates while nearly doubling the standard deduction. These appear to be positive changes, but a more detailed look reveals that they\u2019re less generous than they seem. That\u2019s because the standard deduction\u2014which would be increased to $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for married couples\u2014would be accompanied by the elimination of the personal exemption and exemptions for dependents.<\/p>\n

The alternative is for families to itemize their deductions, but the bill eliminates most of those. Only the deduction for charitable contributions remains completely intact; all the others are either eliminated or curtailed. Although the mortgage<\/a> interest deduction has been retained, the maximum loan<\/a> amount for interest deductibility would be cut in half to no more than $500,000 for new mortgages, and the deduction would be eliminated outright for second mortgages and new home equity lines of credit.<\/p>\n

The deduction for real property taxes would also be retained, but it would be capped at $10,000\u2014far lower than the tax bills of many households in higher-tax states. All of the other itemized deductions, including the one for state and local income taxes, would be eliminated. These changes combined will drive many homeowners to take the standard deduction and end up paying hundreds of dollars more in taxes than they do today, NAR estimates. \u201cHomeowners in all 50 states would be double-taxed on the money they pay for state and local taxes,\u201d Brown says.<\/p>\n

A bombshell awaits home sellers as well. The capital gains exclusion on the sale of a principal residence, which today is capped at $250,000 for single filers and $500,000 for married couples, would be made much harder to use. Homeowners would have to live in their house for at least five of the last eight years, up from two in the last five, to take the exclusion. And the exclusion would decrease when household income reaches above a certain threshold. \u201cIf you buy a home and then have to move within five years, you could be hit with a big tax bill under this plan,\u201d Brown says.<\/p>\n

As a result of these changes, home values could plummet 10 percent or more, NAR estimates. That will harm all homeowners, regardless of whether they\u2019re affected personally by the tax changes. \u201cHard-working homeowners will lose money when their home values fall, while corporations will get a huge tax break,\u201d Brown says.<\/p>\n

The bill threatens to intensify the decline in the homeownership rate\u2014already at a 50-year-low\u2014Iona Harrison, 2017 chair of NAR\u2019s Federal Taxation Committee, told NAR\u2019s board of directors Monday. \u201cI don\u2019t have to tell this audience about the many ways homeownership provides social benefits to communities, increasing neighborhood stability and community involvement,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

NAR has launched a campaign asking REALTORS\u00ae and homeowners to register their opposition to the bill. Members who text \u201cAction\u201d to 30644 will receive a text that enables them to quickly get a message to their members of Congress. So far, more than 135,000 members have responded to the call for action.<\/p>\n

Both tax reform and flood insurance<\/a> were hot topics at the forefront of real estate<\/a> pros\u2019 minds during the REALTORS\u00ae Conference & Expo in Chicago over the weekend. Attendees got the scoop on how regulations, congressional actions, and White House proposals might impact the industry. Here are a few of the stories REALTOR\u00ae Magazine covered on the GOP\u2019s tax reform proposal, the future of flood insurance, and more.<\/p>\n

No Path to 3% GDP Growth Without Real Estate<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the GOP tax plan will not increase the GDP, the real estate market does hold the key to economic growth, according to National Association of REALTORS\u00ae Chief Economist Lawrence Yun and Ken Rosen, founder of real estate research firm Rosen Consulting Group. Learn how specific initiatives that support home ownership can make a real impact on our country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

GOP Strategist Predicts Tax Reform Won\u2019t Pass<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a massive corporate tax cut for the biggest companies in the world,\u201d Steve Schmidt, a top adviser to President George W. Bush\u2019s administration, told REALTORS\u00ae. \u201cIt\u2019s not a tax proposal that benefits small business. It adds a trillion and a half dollars to the debt, and it\u2019s a massive tax increase if you live in a high-cost state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Short-term Flood Insurance Extension Likely<\/strong><\/p>\n

NAR Senior Legislative Policy Representative Austin Perez gave REALTORS\u00ae the inside-the-Beltway scoop on the NFIP. Learn about the major sticking points and how the short-term extension may lead<\/a> to a longer-term revamping of the program, which is tens of billions of dollars in debt after major storms over the last decade.<\/p>\n

REALTORS\u00ae\u2019 Difficult Argument Against Tax Proposal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your clients might think the GOP\u2019s tax plan will benefit them, but they\u2019re likely to be mistaken. Learn about the bombshells awaiting property owners and middle-income workers that are hiding in the bill currently making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

\u2014REALTOR\u00ae Magazine<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Realtors <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican strategist Steve Schmidt predicted during the REALTORS\u00ae Conference & Expo in Chicago on Saturday that … NAR: GOP\u2019s Tax Plan \u2018Attacks Homeownership\u2019<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[4751,1403,12908,543,10,5254,3051,627,617,698,408,312,258,1007,41,818,84,2878,479,61,1262],"class_list":["post-6960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opportunities-in-new-markets","tag-amazing","tag-buy","tag-home","tag-home-buying-guide","tag-home-sell","tag-home-sellers","tag-homeowner","tag-homeowners","tag-house","tag-insurance","tag-mortgage","tag-mortgages","tag-new-home","tag-owners","tag-property","tag-real","tag-real-estate","tag-real-estate-market","tag-realtor","tag-seller","tag-taxes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/11_6_17_SteveSchmidt.jpg?fit=400%2C266&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6960"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90550,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6960\/revisions\/90550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}