Mortgage relief act goes to President

2007-12-21 by

Spidell’s Flash E-mail #2007-35 Courtesy of Spidell Publishing – www.caltax.com

H.R. 3648, the “Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007” has passed the Senate and House. The President is expected to sign the bill that will help some taxpayers caught up in the sub-prime mortgage disaster. It includes the following provisions:

· Exclusion of up to $2 million of acquisition indebtedness on a principal residence. Effective for discharges incurred on or after Jan. 1, 2007 and before Jan. 1, 2010.

· A three year extension of the rule treating qualifying mortgage insurance premiums as deductible qualified residence interest.

· Exclusion of up to $500,000 on the sale of a principal residence by a surviving spouse who files as a single taxpayer if the sale occurs not later than 2 years after their spouse’s death and the requirements for the $500,000 exclusion were met immediately before the spouse’s death. Effective for sales after Dec. 31, 2007.

· Increase the penalty for failure to file partnership returns, and impose a new penalty for failure to file S corporation returns, effective on the date of enactment. The new penalty is $85 per partner/shareholder per month for a maximum of 12 months.

· Increase from 115.75% to 117.25% the required installment amount for estimated tax payments by corporations with assets of $1 billion or more that is otherwise due in July, Aug., or Sept. of 2012.

This legislation does not contain the AMT patch we have been waiting for.

California does not automatically conform to any of these changes. To conform, the legislature must enact conforming legislation. Historically, the California legislature has not enacted any tax legislation during the tax filing season. Spidell will work with our contacts to try to craft legislation that will be agreeable to legislators who have not been able to agree on conformity legislation over the past three years.

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Spidell Publishing
Mortgage relief act goes to President
HR 3648
ortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007

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  1. Pismoclam Says:
    January 02nd, 2008 at 10:21 pm

    I hope Ca doesn't conform to the Feds as far as the debt relief goes. It's bad enough to bail out a bunch of dead beats who bid up the price of homes and are now playing the victim. Personal responsibility went out the window it seems.

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