Many of the income tax provisions that Congress enacts are temporary.  As a result, Congress routinely temporarily reauthorizes some of these more popular provisions before or after they expire. In late February 2019, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Tax Extender and Disaster Relief Act of 2019.  Among other things, the legislation would extend through 2019 more than two dozen tax breaks that expired at the end of 2017, including the:

• New Energy-Efficient Home Credit ($1,000 or $2,000 per home for eligible manufacturers of qualified energy-efficient residential homes),
• Exclusion from gross income of discharge of qualified principal residence debt (up to $2 million for married couples filing jointly and $1 million for other taxpayers),
• Mortgage insurance premiums deduction (phasing out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income over $100,000 or, if married filing separately, $50,000),
• Deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses (up to $4,000 per year subject to income limitations), and
• Empowerment zone tax incentives, including tax-exempt bond financing, a wage credit, accelerated depreciation on qualifying equipment and capital gains tax deferral in designated geographic areas.

As of this writing, corresponding legislation hasn’t been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. We’ll keep you apprised of any updates.

© 2019