|
Economy Needs Boost From Bush Tax Plan, Builders Say
NAHB has reiterated its support for President Bush’s 10-year, $665 billion economic growth package, which it said would provide “much-needed” near-term stimulus to consumer spending and capital investment. But some parts of the plan may need fine-tuning to avoid harming housing programs.
NAHB President Kent Conine said that the impact of the elimination of the double taxation of corporate earnings on the low income housing tax credit is a concern. But he added that prompt implementation of the President’s package “would give a welcome boost to the economy and the housing sector at a time of substantial slack in the labor and capital markets.”
NAHB has been working with top Administration officials and members of Congress to help refine the overall stimulus plan so that no sector of the industry is impaired as housing continues to lead the economy forward.
In meetings last week, Pam Olson, assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department, told Conine that, “we don’t want to do anything to damage the low income housing credit.”
Some housing groups are concerned over a recent study by Ernst & Young predicting a 35% decline in the number of units built with the low income housing tax credit if the tax plan is enacted as it was originally proposed.
That concern was included in NAHB discussions last week with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and HUD Secretary Mel Martinez. There will be further discussion this week at the Treasury with Olson and Peter Fisher, undersecretary for domestic finance, as well as with members of the congressional leadership.
|
