The Cabinet decided Tuesday to modify and extend the tax break on home loans for 21/2 more years starting in fiscal 2001, a move expected to be worth 941 billion yen to prospective home owners.
The break is part of 1.24 trillion yen in pump-priming tax cuts designed to increase housing starts and fire up consumer demand.
The current tax break, which returns up to 5.87 million yen per mortgage holder in installments over 15 years, is set to expire on June 30.