The Administration Tax Reform Proposal and Housing

The Administration Tax Reform Proposal and Housing
Author: Patric H. Hendershott
Publisher:
Total Pages: 33
Release: 1985
Genre: Housing
ISBN:

This paper estimates the likely impact of the Administration tax reform plan on housing. Our analysis incorporates two general equilibrium impacts -- a one percentage point decline in the level of interest rates and a decrease in the property tax rate on principal residences -- and corrects errors regarding discount rates and refinancing in the basic rental model. A 7 percent increase in market rents (11 percent without the decline in interest rates) is projected. Consideration of the individual components of the Administration plan suggests that the only significant negative provisionis the cut in the personal tax rate from 0.53 (including a 6 percent state and local rate deductible at the Federal level) to 0.41. Without this cut (and the decline in interest rates which is largely attributable to the cut), market rents would fall by 6 percent. Rents rise only because rental housing is a negatively taxed asset in the sense that a tax cut lowers the supply of the asset.The general-equilibriwn effects will offset the negative direct effects -- the cut in marginal tax rates and loss of deductibility of property taxes -- on owner-occupied housing in the aggregate. However, this housing will generally be cheaper for households with incomes below $40,000 -- especially below $25,000 -- but will be more expensive for those with incomes above $60,000.This constitutes an improvement in both efficiency and equity because under current law the price of owner housing services is far lower for high income households than for low income households. Homeownership rates should increase by 2 to 3 percentage points for households with incomes below $40,000 and 1 to 2 percentage points in the aggregate

The Economic Effects of Comprehensive Tax Reform

The Economic Effects of Comprehensive Tax Reform
Author:
Publisher: Congress
Total Pages: 168
Release: 1997
Genre: Income tax
ISBN:

I. Introduction -- II. Recent tax reform proposals -- III. Effects on the macroeconomy -- IV. Effects on the allocation of resources -- V. Effects on economic efficiency -- Appendix A. What will a consumption-based tax do to the price level and the value of existing assets? -- Appendix B. Simulation models and the saving response -- Appendix C. Fullerton-Rogers General-equilibrium model.

Economic Effects of Fundamental Tax Reform

Economic Effects of Fundamental Tax Reform
Author: Henry Aaron
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages: 544
Release: 2010-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780815707295

The tax system profoundly affects countless aspects of private behavior. It is a powerful policy influence on the distribution of income and it is the one aspect of government that almost every citizen cannot avoid. With tax reform high on the political agenda, this book brings together studies of leading tax economists and lawyers to assess the various reform proposals and examine the effects of tax reform in several distinct areas. Together, these studies and comments on them present a balanced evaluation of professional opinion on the issues that will be critical in the tax reform debate. The book addresses annual and lifetime distributional effects, saving, investment, transitional problems, simplification, home ownership and housing prices, charitable groups, international taxation, financial intermediaries and insurance, labor supply, and health insurance. In addition to Henry Aaron and William Gale, the contributors include Alan Auerbach, University of California, Berkeley; David Bradford, Princeton University; Charles Clotfelter, Duke University; Eric Engen, Federal Reserve; Don Fullerton, University of Texas; Jon Gruber, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Patric Hendershott, Ohio State; David Ling, University of Florida; Ronald Perlman, Covington & Burling; Diane Lim Rogers, Congressional Budget Office; John Karl Scholz, University of Wisconsin; Joel Slemrod, University of Michigan; and Robert Triest, University of California, Davis.

Tax Reform and Incentives to Encourage Owner-Occupied Housing

Tax Reform and Incentives to Encourage Owner-Occupied Housing
Author: John E. Anderson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 37
Release: 2006
Genre:
ISBN:

Public policy designed to encourage home ownership has operated primarily through the federal income tax system in the United States. With multiple incentives for home-ownership, the income tax system is the main tool by which the federal government encourages families to become home-owners and accumulate wealth in the form of real estate. Recent policy debate over reform of the tax system has questioned whether a mainstay of this system, the mortgage interest deduction (MID), is the best way to accomplish the stated objective. Last year the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform recommended converting the MID into a 15% tax credit subject to regional caps related to median house prices, touching off a vigorous public debate on the importance of the MID. The purpose of this paper is to examine economic implications of that recommendation. We model how switching from the MID to a credit would affect housing finance choices between debt and equity and show how these changes would have changed the tax benefits for various households. Furthermore, we simulate the number of mortgage originations in 2004 (the most recent year which data is available) that would have been subject to the caps in the Panel's recommendation, and we identify the specific urban housing markets that would have been most severely affected. Finally, we conclude with policy discussion of the proposed credit alternative.

Income Tax Provisions Affecting Owner-occupied Housing

Income Tax Provisions Affecting Owner-occupied Housing
Author: James M. Poterba
Publisher:
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2008
Genre: Housing
ISBN:

The mortgage interest deduction, the property tax deduction, the unique treatment of capital gains on owner-occupied homes, and the absence of taxation on imputed rent from owner-occupied homes all influence the effective cost of housing services. They also affect federal income tax revenues and the distribution of income tax liabilities. We draw on household-level data from the 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances to analyze how several potential reforms would affect incentives for housing consumption as well as the distribution of income tax burdens. Our analysis recognizes that changing the mortgage interest deduction would induce changes in household financial behavior. We estimate that repealing the mortgage interest deduction in 2003 would have raised income tax revenues by $72.4 billion in the absence of any portfolio adjustments, but by only $61.9 billion if homeowners responded by drawing down a limited set of financial assets to partially replace their mortgage debt. The revenue effects of changing the property tax deduction similarly depend on how state and local governments alter their mix of revenue instruments in response to federal tax reform. Our results underscore the importance of recognizing behavioral responses when calculating the revenue costs of income tax provisions relating to owner-occupied housing.

The Effects of Taxation on Capital Accumulation

The Effects of Taxation on Capital Accumulation
Author: Martin Feldstein
Publisher: Chicago : University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 512
Release: 1987
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Research on capital formation has long been a major focus of studies sponsored by the National Bureau of Economic Research because of the crucial role of capital accumulation in the process of economic growth. The papers in this volume examine the influence of taxes on capital formation, with specific focus on the determinants of saving and the process of investment in plant and equipment.

A Good Tax

A Good Tax
Author: Joan Youngman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2016
Genre: Local finance
ISBN: 9781558443426

In A Good Tax, tax expert Joan Youngman skillfully considers how to improve the operation of the property tax and supply the information that is often missing in public debate. She analyzes the legal, administrative, and political challenges to the property tax in the United States and offers recommendations for its improvement. The book is accessibly written for policy analysts and public officials who are dealing with specific property tax issues and for those concerned with property tax issues in general.