Not to go off on a tangent, but I actually don't agree with the mortgage deduction either. I don't think the government should be using the tax code to try and incentivize or disincentivize behavior. The congress has shown itself to be monumentally incompetent in choosing what behavior should and should not be rewarded. The mortgage tax deduction being one. We found out the hard way during the mortgage crisis that not everyone should be incentivized to own a home, and even now it continues to survive.