CONGRESS PASSES ONE YEAR EXTENSION ON MORTGAGE DEBT CANCELLATION

Before adjourning sine die in December, Congress finally took action on tax extensions. The “Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act” was included in the package approved by the U.S. House and Senate and was sent to the President’s desk for signature into law.

As the session drew to a close, a last-gasp effort to extend the expired tax provisions for just one year (2014) was put forward by congressional leaders.  The House passed a bill that retroactively reinstated each of these provisions from January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014, on December 3.  The Senate finally followed suit and passed the bill on December 16.

NAR recognizes that a retroactive one-year extension falls short of our goal of a two-year provision, as was included in the Senate Finance Committee bill.  However, given the very difficult circumstances surrounding the end of the session, we are also grateful that relief was enacted for those who need it in 2014

In addition to the mortgage forgiveness provisions that will help distressed homeowners there are also provisions affecting commercial property investors who made transactions during 2014.  The legislation also includes one-year extensions of the 15-year depreciation schedule for leasehold improvements and the deduction for improvements to energy efficient commercial buildings.