Searching for revenue to close a historic budget deficit, a key Congressional committee has suggested that the tax deduction for interest payments on home-equity loans be eliminated. “The present-law deduction for interest on home-equity indebtedness is inconsistent with the goal of encouraging homeownership while limiting significant disincentives for saving,” the House and Senate Joint Committee on taxation argued in a report issued last week. “A taxpayer may deduct interest on a loan of up…