This Article traces the mortgage interest deduction from accident to birthright, from one of many deductible personal interest items to one of the few left standing, and from a nominal tax offset to the second most expensive tax subsidy. It tells the story of how the mortgage interest deduction...

Included among President Bush's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform's recommendations were three proposals related to the current home mortgage interest deduction. Instead of a deduction, the panel recommended a flat 15% credit. Instead of the current $1,100,000 mortgage caps, the panel...

This paper revisits the mortgage interest deduction (MID) in the U.S. and its distribution across households using ZIP-code level data from the IRS Statistics of Income. Since the Great Recession, the total and average amount of mortgage interest deducted has fallen significantly along with the...

On March 13, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service released Chief Counsel Advisory 200911007, concluding that unmarried co-owners of a residence were limited to mortgage interest deductions on $1 million of acquisition indebtedness. CCA 200911007 reasons that the $1 million limit should be applied...

The aim of this paper is to examine the determinants of interests rates on tax-exempt hospital bonds. The results highlight the potential and actual roles of Federal and state policy in the determination of these rates. The shift to a Prospective Payment System under Medicare has subsidized the...

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada proposed two income tax deductions: (1) a home mortgage interest deduction, and (2) a property tax deduction. These two deductions have existed in the United States since the early days of the income tax. If the Canadian government wants to subsidize...

Tax provisions favoring corporate debt over equity finance (“debt bias”) are widely recognized as a risk to financial stability. This paper explores whether and how thin-capitalization rules, which restrict interest deductibility beyond a certain amount, affect corporate debt ratios and...

The mortgage interest deduction is an incredibly popular, politically well-supported and hugely expensive tax incentive. Yet economic studies consistently show that the mortgage interest deduction fails to advance its fundamental purpose. It does not increase the rate of homeownership. On the...