Housing tax expenditures and financial intermediation

Abstract

AbstractThrough the lens of a multi‐agent dynamic general equilibrium model, we examine the effects of changes in preferential housing‐related tax treatments on macroeconomic aggregates and welfare. Our first finding is that financial frictions on banks contribute to lowering tax multipliers. The multipliers that we find are smaller over a horizon of 20 quarters—they range from to , while the long‐run tax multipliers range from to . We then find that the reduction in the deduction of mortgage interest payments delivers the lowest long‐run multiplier. We also implement revenue‐neutral tax reforms and find that the repeal of mortgage deductibility is the best housing tax policy because it generates small losses in output.