Help you clients save money and get a tax credit...

Here you will find the information pertaining the First Time Home Buys Savings Account.

This link will take you to the actual form.

http://mt.gov/revenue/formsandresources/93-99forms/99-FTB.pdf

I have include theactualdocument in case you have questions which can be answer at the bottum paragragh.  In these hard times now is the time to take advantageofmoney saving opertunities for your clients.

FIRST-TIME HOME BUYER SAVINGS ACCOUNT

Name______________________________Social Security Number___________________

Account Information

Financial Institution where account is located_____________________________________

Address of Financial Institution________________________________________________

Complete the table below for the current year. Additional information regarding first-time

home buyer savings account is provided on the back of this form. If you made withdrawals

from your first-time home buyer savings account that were not used to pay qualifying expenses,

you must complete Form FTB-P. To order this form call 1-406-444-6900.

A B C D

Date Deposits Interest Withdrawals Withdrawals Balance

Earned Used for Used for Columns A+B

Eligible Noneligible Less Columns

Expenses Expenses C+D

Enter balance of accounts as 12-31-98

Your allowable reduction is the total of column A or $3,000 whichever is less, plus the total of column B.

Attach this form to your Montana income tax return.

homebuyers, please access our website at http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/pubs/mt9918.html

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Form FTB

Rev. 8/99

MONTANA

158

MONTANA FIRST-TIME HOME BUYER SAVINGS ACCOUNT

Beginning with tax year 1998, qualifying taxpayers may exclude contributions made to accounts established

specifically to pay eligible costs associated with the purchase of a taxpayer's first home. A

qualifying taxpayer (first-time home buyer) is "an individual who has never owned or purchased under

contract for deed, either individually or jointly, a single-family residence in Montana or out-of-state".

Eligible costs include "the down payment and allowable closing costs for the purchase of a single-family

residence in Montana by a first-time home buyer".

The maximum exclusion per year per individual is $3,000. Contributions in excess of $3,000 may be

claimed as a reduction from Montana adjusted gross income in subsequent tax years, however, the

maximum contribution deduction allowed in any one tax year is $3,000.

Married couples may each claim a first-time home buyer savings account reduction of up to $3,000 if they

maintain separate accounts. Jointly held accounts do not qualify as first-time home buyer accounts

unless husband and wife file jointly (both using the same column of the tax return) for Montana tax

purposes.

In addition to deducting up to $3,000 in contributions to a first-time home buyer savings account, interest

earned on an account is excludable from Montana adjusted gross income.

No first-time home buyer reductions are allowed after a home is purchased. Any funds remaining in an

account after home is purchased must be included in Montana adjusted gross income in the year the home

is purchased. Funds remaining in an account after the purchase of a home are not includable in Montana

adjusted gross income if the funds were not claimed as a first-time home buyer reduction.

First-time home buyer savings accounts are self-administered and can be established with any financial

or investment institution. The account must be a new account established in the first year the reduction

is claimed. The account cannot be used for any purpose other than for paying qualifying expenses related

to the purchase of a first home do qualify for the first-time home buyer provision.

If, after 10 years of making contributions to an account, a taxpayer has not purchased a home, funds in

a first-time home buyer savings account will become subject to Montana income tax as ordinary income.

Withdrawals from first-time home buyer savings accounts used for purposes other than qualifying firsttime

home purchase expenses are subject to state taxation as ordinary income and are also subject to a

10% withdrawal penalty. Money withdrawn from an account on the last business day of the tax year is

not subject to the 10% penalty, however it is subject to state taxation.

Taxpayers claiming this exclusion must attach to their return each year:

n Copies of all account statements (monthly, quarterly, annual) from the financial or investment

institution where the account is maintained.

n A completed Form FTB.

For the year in which a home is purchased, taxpayers claiming the first-time home buyer savings account

reductions must also attach to their tax return copies of the buy/sell agreement and the closing statement

for the home purchased.

Additionally, upon the Department of Revenue's request, account holders must be able to provide verification

that all withdrawals from an account were used to pay qualifying expenses associated with the

purchase of a first home.