THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

That they don't really know what to do with them, their friends in Congress are getting around to eliminate the mortgage interest tax break because there are so few mortgages anymore.

U.S. lawmakers are weighing how far they can go in altering one of the most politically sensitive provisions in the tax code: the deduction for home mortgage interest.

While pledging a “careful, thoughtful review,” House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp asked witnesses at a hearing yesterday for ideas on how to transition to a new, still- unspecified system. That’s a signal he’s considering changes that could be disruptive to real estate markets and looking for ways to soften those effects.

Camp’s scrutiny of the mortgage interest deduction is part of his plan to rewrite the U.S. tax code, curtailing breaks and lowering tax rates in a way that doesn’t increase the federal government’s total collections. He wants his committee to approve a bill this year.

Changing the mortgage interest deduction could affect real estate agents and home builders, along with the appliance and furniture industries.

In 2012, 34 million households, or 22 percent of tax filers, claimed the home mortgage deduction. That cost the federal government $68 billion in forgone revenue, according to estimates from the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.

The deduction is available only to the one-third of taxpayers who itemize their deductions and tend to have higher incomes. More than three-quarters of the benefit in 2012 went to households with annual incomes exceeding $100,000.

Still, the tax benefit is less skewed toward the nation’s highest earners than some other breaks, such as lower rates on long-term capital gains.

The money raised by this move should take some of the pressure for repeal off the much needed corporate welfare tax breaks.