December 17th, 2012 9:08 AM by Michael and Jill Kohler
The fate of the mortgage-forgiveness tax break is bound up in the negotiations over the so-called fiscal cliff in 2001 and 2002. The President and Republican lawmakers are trading proposals on ways to avoid the more than $600 billion in U.S. spending cuts and tax-rate increases that will automatically take effect in January if Congress doesn’t act.
The mortgage debt forgiveness measure may be tacked onto the back of a broader bill that addresses the fiscal cliff, said Holtz-Eakin.
“There’s bipartisan support for extending the mortgage-forgiveness bill,” Holtz-Eakin said. “Not doing it is a recipe for bad politics.”
The Senate Finance Committee approved a one-year extension in August. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated at the time that the cost to taxpayers would be $1.3 billion. The matter hasn’t come up for a vote of the full Senate, nor has it come to a vote in the House of Representatives. Get your FREE Quote Now!