[dionidium]

> I think it's misleading to call those 'subsidies'.

In ordinary language we all understand that giving someone money and asking for less of their money are not equivalent, but referring to both as subsidies in terms of tax policy is pretty standard. See, for example, the debate about the mortgage interest deduction: https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/who-benefits-tax-subs...

[sokoloff]

I think there's a strong argument that we should permit the mortgage interest deduction in order to keep owner-occupied real estate on equal footing with commercially-owned real estate (the expenses of which are inherently deductible by profit-seeking corporations).

Otherwise, we create financial hurdles for people to buy houses that don't exist for landlords, which I think is poor policy.