President's Tax Panel Discusses Tax Deductions

WASHINGTON-At its Oct. 11 meeting, the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform talked about various ways for the Treasury to bring in more revenue by closing loopholes and narrowing tax deductions in the code. The mortgage interest deduction should be capped to bolster homeownership, but not to foster the purchase of luxury homes, the panel said, according to a report from CUNA’s News Now. The panel, headed up by former Senators Connie Mack and John Breaux, also discussed eliminating the distinction between itemizing taxpayers and those who do not. Tax information reporting should also be improved to curb fraudulent and inflated charitable contribution claims. Finally, the panel considered applying a cap, based on the Consumer Price Index, for employee exclusions of premiums for employer-provided health plans. Conversely, permitting employees without employer-provided plans to deduct their premiums from their federal income taxes was also discussed. The panel’s next meeting is slated for Oct. 18 in Washington, D.C.