Universal interest deductibility in 1913 predated targeted mortgage subsidies

Evidence

Here’s how that happened: When our tax system was created, few Americans paid taxes, and all interest was deductible—meaning you could subtract it from your reported income and potentially accumulate enough deductions to reduce your income into a lower tax bracket. There was a deduction for personal interest (think credit card or car loan) as well as business interest. — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 1236

Categorization

• XREF: Continuation of the historical thread about the 1913 Revenue Act relevant to the reparations accounting timeline. — connects to: All interest, personal and business, was originally deductible when the income tax began — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax…, 180; The rent-versus-own distinction exempts mortgage interest from the personal expense rule — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax…, 179; Mortgage interest deductibility is an anomalous subsidy for ownership over renting — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations: How Building a…, 1235
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: All interest, personal and business, was originally deductible when the income tax began — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax…, 180; The rent-versus-own distinction exempts mortgage interest from the personal expense rule — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax…, 179; Mortgage interest deductibility is an anomalous subsidy for ownership over renting — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations: How Building a…, 1235