Here it comes.

[Plane]

"If you are looking to raise revenue to pay for tax reform, that is the biggest pot of money of all," said Martin Sullivan, chief economist with Tax Analysts, a nonpartisan publisher of tax information.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20121225/INFO/312259990/healthcare-tax-hikes-for-2013-may-be-just-a-start


Yes , those nice health insurance deals are being eyed as taxable income by the taxman.

[Xavier_Onassis]

They would do away with the mortgage deduction first. The odds of taxing health insurance I would say are less than 1 in 20,and for ending all the mortgage interest deduction maybe one in four.

[Plane]

They would do away with the mortgage deduction first. The odds of taxing health insurance I would say are less than 1 in 20,and for ending all the mortgage interest deduction maybe one in four.

It isn't odds I am looking at , it is a government very hungry for money.

The government is like an underfed lion, eyeing a calf of mortguages and a cow of insurace benefits, why not take both?

[BT]

They will do away with the mortgage deductions for the high income earners as they boil the middle class frog more slowly.

Same goes for taxing the health insurance benefit.

[Xavier_Onassis]

This won't happen, really, it won't.

Why should the government give a tax break for the interest on someone's SECOND home?

Health benefits are part of a person's income, and not at all like a deduction on interest.

[Christians4LessGvt]

Why should the government give a tax break for the interest on someone's SECOND home?

To encourge people to buy second homes!
hello?....anybody home?
my brother and i bought some rural property.
we dont have a cabin, cottage, or home on it.
but if we do build....
carpenters will be needed
plumbers will be needed
flooring companies with workers will be needed
construction workers will be needed
cement truck drivers will be needed
is it better those workers get it or send it off to Obama
so he can give handouts to Pakistan?

[Xavier_Onassis]

If you buy a second, third of fourth home, by all means go right ahead. But there is no reason why the government should subsidize the mortgage on your interest.  About half of all Americans cannot afford to buy even ONE home. Why should they pay more so you can have a second home?

It is not the proper role of government to subsidize your hiring of carpenters and others with make-work jobs for your benefit.

It is not a question of the government subsidizing your lifestyle or sending foreign aid to Pakistan, either. The Pakistani government is not anti-American, and it certainly would cost us a lot more to defend against it if it were.

[Plane]

The US government doesn't love you .

If it does not tax your health benefits , there must be a reason not to.

If it does not tax your mortgague interest , there must be a reason not to.

If there is any big pot of money around , it is tempting to the government to grow with.

[Xavier_Onassis]

It is not the role of government to love anyone. The role of the government to provide essential services to the people, as determined by those people. It is debatable that tax breaks be given to the wealthiest members of the middle class so they can buy a second home.

No one is going to tax health insurance.

[Plane]

Government in its nature has motives.

Some of these are limited by the people , sometimes the people are not successfull in limiting the government.

From the governments point of view , there is no compelling reason to accept insurance payments as tax free income, and since it represents a big pool of revenue the government is motivated to attach it.


The big advantage to tax exemption for mortgage interest is that it encourages private homeowners and landlords to take out and pay mortgagues. Does the government still want to encourage building and rebuilding lots of houses and apartments?
Especially on credit?