WASHINGTON — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is celebrating a significant policy victory following the Senate’s passage of H.R. 1, which preserves and strengthens key tax provisions critical to housing and real estate finance.
MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit praised the bill for making permanent the mortgage interest deduction and other long-supported measures, calling it a major step forward for both single-family and commercial/multifamily sectors.
“MBA is pleased that the Senate’s version of the bill maintains, and in several cases enhances, numerous pro-housing and economic development tax provisions that our board-level tax task force, representing both our single-family and commercial/multifamily members, advocated for,” Broeksmit said. “Importantly, the bill makes permanent the mortgage interest deduction, permanently reinstates the deductibility of mortgage insurance premiums, maintains the 20 percent deduction for Qualified Business Income under a permanent Section 199A, makes permanent the deductibility of business interest for real property transactions, keeps current law treatment of Section 1031 like-kind exchanges and the tax code’s ‘gain on sale’ rollover provision, and raises the federal debt ceiling by $5 trillion.
“Building on the bill that passed the House, the inclusion of permanent rounds of Opportunity Zones, along with much-needed improvements to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, will facilitate more housing production,” Broeksmit continued. “We are also pleased, following MBA’s and a broad set of industry stakeholders’ direct advocacy, that both the Section 899 proposal and restrictions to a pass-through entity’s ability to deduct state and local tax expenses were removed from the Senate legislation.”
Broeksmit added that MBA will work with congressional leaders in the coming days to ensure the beneficial tax policies remain intact in any final package signed into law by President Trump.