Weighing the mortgage interest deduction

Re “Tax Reformers Eye Breaks for Housing,” Oct. 8

Your article failed to mention where the homeowners’ mortgage interest deduction actually goes. Like any subsidy in a market where supply is limited, it goes to the owners, producers or suppliers of the components of the product. Price is what brings supply and demand in balance, so when subsidies increase what consumers are able to pay, prices must rise accordingly for a given supply to maintain balance with the demand.

The way to end the deduction, because people have made decisions based on it, is to phase it out over, say, 20 years, lowering the amount of interest that is deductible by 5% a year.

This is unlikely to shock the market or cause too great of a burden on those who figured it into their purchase decisions.

JEFF SANDERS

Santa Cruz

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What we need is a new and improved alternative minimum tax that actually does what it was originally designed to do -- ensure that high-income taxpayers do not make excessive use of tax breaks. While there may be good reasons for altering existing real estate and mortgage tax policies, there is not one good reason for allowing excessive tax breaks for high-income taxpayers to continue.

RICH LOCASSO

Huntington Beach