Fair Tax Nation

Replace All Federal Taxes on Income with the Fair Tax Act , HR 25

The National Association of Realtors will fight against any tax reform that removes the Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID). I researched quickly and found a article (4/25/06)from them explaining the deduction and how they oppose any attempts to take that away.
http://www.realestateestespark.com/pdf/buyer/Mortgage_Interest_Dedu...

I read the article and easily I could see talking points to our favor. On fairtax.org, you can see a few explanations and some very enlightening reports on this subject. But there are wikepedia articles that seem to support the FairTax with the exception of the effect on housing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairTax

Wednesday, the housing data was released for April which of course my curiosity had me calculate exactly the percentage of families in April who will use the MID and how that compares to the FairTax.


April 2009 total houses sold were 5,067,000.
92.8% were existing houses (which would not be taxed under the Fair Tax by the way).
7.2% were new houses. (we already knew this ratio was heavy on existing homes anyway)

So, using the article FROM the NAR, I see that 33% of those families will itemize on their taxes (1,672,110). We see that according to the NAR that only 60% of those will utilize the MID when they itemize (1,003,266).

So the NAR data says that only 19.8% of the families who bought homes in April will get any benefit from the Mortgage Interest Deduction! So why do they insist on fighting against the Fair Tax! They should support it. With the Fair Tax, families would be paying for their home (both principle and interest) with Pre-Tax dollars. They would have greater buying power in order to make the purchase and it means a 100% mortgage interest deduction (and they do not have to do anything to get it).

It just is too obvious that 100% of the families would have benefited under the Fair Tax compared to 19.8%!


I guess the added buying power provided by the FT will not sell more houses than the fact that all WILL have mortgages but only a few will get a SMALL % back from the interest paid in with the MID (but only on the income tax, not the payroll tax)!

I just don't get it! How do we get the Realtors to understand? How do we get that point across to our congress reps? 19.8% vs. 100% makes a strong statement.

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Bless you Child! I was just wondering where I heard the 20% MID stat last nite. Oi, Mr. Stone you are a fount of knowledge. Very helpful w/ commentary.

Though, thanks pantsloads as now I'm obliged to go to the site and start nagging realtors. One more for the list.
I have spoken with many Realtors. Individually, Realtors support the Fair Tax. There are a number of ways that they benefit from the Fair Tax

People that are looking to buy a home will have more spendable money as they will get their gross paycheck and have the prebate each month. The interest rate on the home mortgage loan will be reduced by about 25%. These results will help the buyer qualify for a higher priced home. (Either new or used) This means the Realtor will earn more commission! If the Realtor is involved in commercial properties, all the transactions are business to business activities and the Fair Tax does not apply.

The Realtor will no longer keep track of every expense during the year in order to prepare their business and personal phases of their income tax return! This will allow a lot more time to be involved in the selling of the real estate. (creating more commissions!)

The local board of Realtor chapters are also in favor of the Fair Tax. These chapters are made up of volunteer Realtors who are active in selling properties. As stated above, they support the Fair Tax.

It is only the administrative people at the National Board of Realtors that oppose the Fair Tax. They are lobbyists in DC and must protect their jobs.
Yes, I know a few realtors and they think the Fairtax would be good. The NAR as I thought were the lobbyist (or they are the ones vocal representing the NAR. Of course, the congress reps will always use the MID excuse but my research pulled up a few letters and articles that indicate how strong they are in stopping tax reform.

Thanks for your comment
I'm glad you know Chiefcook. I put a few feelers out there at the National level. But I did not have the indebth story. Forgot the B2B. Golly, that's a heap!

Oh! Bragged on you tonite to some dude from KY at the webinar. He wanted to get some literature to pass out. He said he'd come to FTN, but he had no printer.
Best I can tell, to be able to take the Mortgage Interest Deduction you either have to have a $250,000+ mortgage, or some other deductions, ie, medical expenses, job related expenses, etc.

Where's the wealth envy crowd on this???
I know staff at NAR. The NAR is very protective of the MID, which makes sense. On the other hand, eliminating the income tax is different from keeping the income tax and eliminating the MID. My guess is that most individual Realtors would support elimination of the income tax. The key is to educate the members on the FairTax and get them to push the idea with the national board.
They are protective of the MID because they are the only ones to have a tax advantage others do not have. They do need to understand the benefits as much as anyone else. The lobbying that they bring on works against the FT.

I know some realtors do think the FT is a good thing. they are surprised the NAR is against it. We know why, we just need to eliminate the work they do against us.
Mr. Pat Conroy, divvy up the names. I only was able to contact in general.
If you go to the link of my original post, there are names and numbers at the bottom of the atricle. I know it is a 2005 post but that is a good start.
Legislative Contact:
Linda Goold, lgoold@realtors.org, 202-383-1083


Regulatory Contact:
Lisa Brechtel, LBrechtel@realtors.org, 202-383-1090


Legislative Contact:
Samuel Whitfield, SWhitfield@realtors.org, 202-383-1131

Media Contact:
Mary Trupo, mtrupo@realtors.org, 202-383-1007
Thanks, Mr. Stone. I see the orig post now. what a maroon! Blind & slow!

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