Rep. Malliotakis says new bill would help seniors selling their homes, young families looking to buy

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis joined realtors, seniors and other elected officials Friday in support of a bill aimed at reducing the tax burden on seniors looking to sell their homes.

The Nest Egg Protection Act, proposed as H.R. 9064, would lower the capital-gains tax burden on seniors selling their homes, according to Malliotakis, a Republican representing Staten Island and South Brooklyn.

The bill is primarily designed to allow seniors to keep more of their equity while helping bring more homes onto the market.

“These seniors have built a lifetime of equity in the homes that they purchased decades ago, and if they sell their home, they could be hit with a tremendous tax bill on the capital gains on that equity that they’ve built in their homes,” Malliotakis said Friday during a press conference at the Staten Island Community Services Friendship Club in Great Kills.

“So this is an issue that we’re addressing through this legislation, called the Nest Egg Protection Act, which basically increases that tax exemption to up to a million dollars.”

According to Malliotakis, the median home price in her district is over $700,000.

Under current tax law, individuals may exclude up to $250,000 in capital gains on the sale of their home, while joint filers may exclude up to $500,000. If signed into law, the bill would temporarily increase the capital gains tax exclusion to $1 million for people age 65 or older.

Malliotakis said the bill would also benefit young people looking to buy a home by giving seniors the “freedom to be able to sell their homes to downsize.”

“What we’re doing right now is protecting seniors’ nest egg, protecting the equity they built in their home ... (while) also in the interim make way for a young new family...” Malliotaks said.

“So this is a win-win piece of legislation that would help our seniors fulfill what they would want to do, and also open up housing stock for young, growing families in a time when we know that housing in New York City is needed.”

According to Malliotakis, the idea for the bill came from Frank Reali of Safari Realty. Reali also spoke at the press conference.

“We worry about how it impacts the economy, but if we look at housing, which drives so much of the economy, almost every time somebody moves into a new house, they buy appliances, they buy furniture, they hire somebody to paint, and they can churn a lot of money that ends up helping the economy,” Reali said.

Other realtors, including Gary Fleming and Steven Caro, expressed their support for the bill on Friday.

Assembly Member Michael Tannousis, a Republican who represents the East Shore and parts of South Brooklyn, said he sees the idea as a common-sense solution to the housing problem.

“I hope this goes forward with bipartisan support. It makes a lot of sense, and that is what our role in government is. It is to make life easier and more affordable for our constituents, and that’s what we need to do every single day,” Tannousis said.