Tax Reform Comments Posted

Public comments submitted to the eleven tax reform working groups of the House Committee on Ways and Means have been posted. They include over forty submissions to the Real Estate Working Group. NLIHC’s President and CEO Sheila Crowley submitted comments on April 15 to the Real Estate Working Group on behalf of NLIHC and the more than 1,000 organizations that are part of the United for Homes campaign. Dr. Crowley’s comments focused solely on the United for Homes campaign proposal to fund the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) through a modification of the mortgage interest deduction (MID) (see Memo, 4/19). Public comments are expected to be summarized by the Joint Committee on Taxation and will be included in a report that is scheduled to be delivered to the House Committee on Ways and Means on May 6. Comments from Mercy Housing supported reform of the MID with revenue raised directed to the NHTF. Mercy Housing would set the cap for the mortgage for which interest could be deducted at the FHA conforming loan limits. Comments by Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF), Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), and Volunteers of America (VOA) recommended “savings from MID reform should go to providing additional affordable housing, particularly for extremely low income households.” The Center for American Progress Action Fund recommended converting the MID to an 18% itemized, non-refundable credit.The National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) submitted comments defending the MID in its current form, as did the Hudson Institute.A number of organizations submitted comments urging the Committee to preserve the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), to make permanent the fixed 9% tax credit, and to extend the fixed-rate policy to the 4% tax credit. Currently, the fixed 9% credit will apply only to projects that receive a LIHTC allocation before January 1, 2014. Groups that submitted comments in support of protecting the LIHTC program include: the National Multi Housing Council, Mercy Housing, Enterprise Community Partners, the A Call to Invest in Our Neighborhoods (A.C.T.I.O.N.) Campaign, SAHF, POA, VOA, the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, the National Council of State Agencies, the National Housing Trust, the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies, NAHB, the National Housing Conference, and the Washington State Housing Finance Commission.The Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP) submitted comments in support of proposed changes to the “student rule,” which currently prohibits full-time students from living in a LIHTC unit as a head of household. MHP urges the rule be amended to make an exception for formerly homeless youth.The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities submitted comments on its renter tax credit proposal.View all submitted comments at: http://1.usa.gov/WR7neG