Do you know what your house payments would have to be at 5% interest, to reach $24k in interest payments each year?
$480,000.00 a year. That would be $40,000 a month. I doubt many FReepers will be paying those kind of house payments.
Keep in mind, I used a relatively high (today) rate of interest too. Today’s mortgage interest rates are in the 3% range.
If a person is making $4 thousand a month house payments, that would work out to $48k per year, and $2,400 dollars a year in interest mortgage interest paid.
$24,000 - $2,400 leaves $21,600 surplus in the personal deductions for two people.
I’m not sure how folks are going to get killed here, with higher taxes.
OK, let's look at this another way (or two):
We are empty nesters. That means a standard combined deduction in the *current* system of 12,000 + $8,100 = $20,200. With my itemized deductions, for 2016 my combined (exemptions + deductions) was over #34,000.
BUT, my home is paid off so I have no deduction there and although my itemized deductions were over $24,000, the lack of mortgage interest wipes out my itemized deductions - a loss of over $12,000 in exemptions + deductions under the new system.
A major loss!