Cut in Mortgage Tax Break Headed to Bush

A final recommendation to cap the mortgage interest deduction at $300,000 was headed to the White House and Treasury Department on Tuesday with the home finance and real estate industries in stiff opposition.Trade organizations and their lobbyists are girding for battle, even though many believe the recommendation will likely not be adopted. (The proposal is part of a larger effort by the executive branch to simplify the U.S. tax code.) On Tuesday afternoon the National Association of Mortgage Brokers joined Reps. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., and Katherine Harris, R-Fla., at a news conference after the two elected officials introduced a resolution calling for protection of the current mortgage interest tax deduction of $1 million. Edward Yingling, president of the American Bankers Association, said lowering the deduction ceiling "would have negative implications for the value of investments people have made in their homes."