H/T Calculated Risk:
WSJ: "To make room for added spending, the White House, joined by House Democratic leaders, is pressing to scale back certain Senate-passed tax breaks, including ... an $11.5 billion proposal to give car buyers a tax deduction covering local sales taxes and interest on auto loans, and a $35 billion proposal to create a new tax credit for home purchases."Update Wednesday afternoon: (h/t Manju):
"Working to accommodate the new, lower overall limit of the bill, negotiators effectively wiped out a Senate-passed provision for a new $15,000 tax credit to defray the cost of buying a home, these officials said. The agreement would allow taxpayers to deduct the sales tax paid on new car purchases, but not the interest on loans for the same vehicles".Update Wednesday evening (h/t Jeremy):
"The homeowner tax credit has been kept but significantly reduced. The Senate version proposed a $15,000 credit, double that of the House bill."But apparently we're not impressed: according to a new Rasmussen poll, nineteen percent (19%) trust members of Congress more on the economy than on their own judgment. 67% think they could do a better job.
12 comments:
A Post editorial yesterday called for those tax credits to be eliminated. I don't know how much Congress cares about what the Post editorial staff thinks.
more via CR
CNBC tentative agreement reached
Negotiators were working with a target of about $800 billion for the final bill, lawmakers said. "That's in the ballpark," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said of the $800 billion figure late Tuesday.
Baucus had said earlier that $35.5 billion to provide a $15,000 homebuyer tax credit, approved in the Senate last week, would be cut back. There was also pressure to reduce a Senate-passed tax break for new car buyers, according to Democratic officials.
We shall see soon enough. I think all the delayed closings will be for naught. (other than messing with February's numbers to inject more fear into the market)
>A Post editorial yesterday called for those tax credits to be eliminated. I don't know how much Congress cares about what the Post editorial staff thinks.<
Since when did Congress care what anybody thinks?
FYI - I placed another call to Senator Isakson's office a few minutes ago. They said there is no final word regarding what will happen to the $15K homebuyers tax credit. They are still pushing to have the credit remain as is per the Senate bill. They have heard rumors that the credit could be scaled back, but not necessarily done away with. They said they expect to hear something by the end of the day. I'll place another call later in the afternoon for an update.
dgg,
Isakson voted No to the Stimulus even after his proposal was included, so why would he have a say now?
I wasn't expecting him to have a say, but I did expect him to have an interest in any changes to his amendment and what they were. I was looking for information, but had no expectation that he is in a position of influence at this point.
Looks like the credit is out.
According to CNN.com:
The homeowner tax credit has been kept but significantly reduced. The Senate version proposed a $15,000 credit, double that of the House bill.
Link
According to WaPo, the tax credit has been scaled back and subject to income phase outs. The cost of the tax cut is reduced from $35 billion to $5 billion. Good news, and no surprise.
http://tinyurl.com/brcp8y
We need to contact both of our senators and tell them what we thing about removing this money. go to senate.gov and find your senator. You can send him an email right from his website. Tell them why you think the $15,000 will help more people to be able to buy homes.
Thanks!
Eva,
The tax credit proposal was a bad idea. Count me out.
Tell them why you think the $15,000 will help more people to be able to buy homes.
Eva, I have a better idea. Tell them to quit trying to prop up house prices. Once prices drop to an affordable level, more people will be able to buy.
Sorry, count me out too.
I agree. I'm not going to fight for it. I'd rather take the $15K from the seller, Realtors, etc. than take it from the tax-paying public.
But if it's there, I might just take it from the tax-paying public too. Self-interest is a nasty thing.
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