Why Neutral Cost Recovery Matters
Allowing full deductibility of residential structures would mean more housing construction, particularly multifamily housing—a practical solution to address housing affordability challenges.
6 min read
Featured Articles
Testimony: Tax Policy’s Role in Expanding Affordable Housing
Reforming the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and providing neutral cost recovery for residential structures would tackle the problem of housing affordability in a complementary fashion.
Rethinking Affordable Housing Tax Policy
Affordable housing is an issue that has had long-standing bipartisan interest in D.C. But the path to increase the supply of affordable housing, though often well-intentioned, has created a bureaucratic nightmare.
Options for Improving the Tax Treatment of Structures
Improving the tax treatment of structures is one of the most cost-effective tax policy changes available to lawmakers as they consider how to remove investment barriers in the tax code to hasten the economic recovery. Policymakers must weigh the trade-offs among long-run economic output goals, revenue constraints, and the existing stock of structures.
13 min read
1980s Tax Reform, Cost Recovery, and the Real Estate Industry: Lessons for Today
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 extended depreciation schedules for both commercial and noncommercial of real estate, reducing the attractiveness of those investments.
21 min read
Did 1986 Tax Reform Hurt Affordable Housing?
Improving cost recovery for residential structures, while not a silver bullet for solving the housing crisis, would on the margin encourage more construction that would help push rents down across the board.
4 min readAll Related Articles
How Expensing for Capital Investment Can Accelerate the Transition to a Cleaner Economy
Expensing for capital investments is a powerful tax policy for economic growth. But expensing can also help shift the economy to a more sustainable future through increased investment in new, less carbon-intensive technology. Expensing for capital investment would eliminate a tax bias against energy efficiency improvements that reduce operating costs but involve high upfront investments. It could also serve to accelerate the existing trend of movement towards more green energy power sources.
28 min read
An Overview of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)
The LIHTC has subsidized over 3 million housing units since it was established in 1986, the largest source of affordable housing financing.
24 min read
Estimating Neutral Cost Recovery’s Impact on Affordable Housing
Housing affordability was a major issue even before the COVID-19 crisis, but the current economic situation has made it more salient. Immediate support for people struggling makes sense now, but lawmakers should also consider long-term solutions to the problem of high rents, namely by expanding the supply of housing.
5 min read
1980s Tax Reform, Cost Recovery, and the Real Estate Industry: Lessons for Today
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 extended depreciation schedules for both commercial and noncommercial of real estate, reducing the attractiveness of those investments.
21 min read
Did 1986 Tax Reform Hurt Affordable Housing?
Improving cost recovery for residential structures, while not a silver bullet for solving the housing crisis, would on the margin encourage more construction that would help push rents down across the board.
4 min read
Options for Improving the Tax Treatment of Structures
Improving the tax treatment of structures is one of the most cost-effective tax policy changes available to lawmakers as they consider how to remove investment barriers in the tax code to hasten the economic recovery. Policymakers must weigh the trade-offs among long-run economic output goals, revenue constraints, and the existing stock of structures.
13 min read