Tax reformers target mortgage interest and property tax deductions

presidential panel charged with simplifying the U.S. Tax Code has issued a series of bold recommendations that include the reduction or elimination of a number of existing tax incentives to home ownership. Among the most significant revisions proposed by the President Bush’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform are the conversion of the mortgage interest deduction into a tax credit and elimination of the deduction for state and local property taxes. As part of its plan, the tax panel also has recommended the repeal of the alternative minimum tax and new limits on charitable deductions to contributions above 1 percent of income.
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New law requires carbon monoxide detectors in Bay State homes

Under new legislation signed into law last week by Gov. Mitt Romney, Massachusetts has become the ninth state in the U.S. to require carbon monoxide detectors for residential dwellings.

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