ABSTRACT
Taxes on individual and corporation income, which provide the bulk of the federal government's tax revenue, have a tremendous impact upon both the demand for housing and its supply, character, and condition. In view of the "striking power" of federal income taxes, it is not surprising that many of those concerned with unmet urban housing needs would seek to place primary reliance upon tax-incentive devices in order to meet such needs. All taxes—not just the individual income tax—tend to reduce the public's effective demand for housing and other goods or services, as compared with what it would be if there were no need to apply some of the nation's productive effort to governmental requirements. Poor families typically spend a considerably higher-than-average proportion of their income for housing, and the affluent a less-than-average proportion for this purpose. Real estate investment has some disadvantage from the standpoint of federal income taxation, as compared with investment in other forms of income-producing property.
