Special offer

FIRST TIME BUYERS TAX CREDIT INFROMATION

By
Industry Observer with Howard Sumner Consulting

IN RESEARCHING INFORMATION ABOUT HOW THE FIRST TIME BUYER CREDIT WORKS, MOST ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE INCOME LIMITS ANS SUCH.  MOST ASSUME THEY UNDERSTAND CUT ANS SUCH YET AS THE EXAMPLES BELOW ILLUSTRATE IT'S ALWAYS SMART TO CONSULT YOUR TAX PROFESSIONAL BEFORE YOU ASSUME HOW IT MAY PLAY OUT.

Assume that a married couple has a modified adjusted gross income of $160,000. The applicable phase-out to qualify for the tax credit is $150,000, and the couple is $10,000 over this amount. Dividing $10,000 by the phase-out range of $20,000 yields 0.5. When you subtract 0.5 from 1.0, the result is 0.5. To determine the amount of the partial first-time home buyer tax credit that is available to this couple, multiply $8,000 by 0.5. The result is $4,000.

Or, assume that an individual home buyer has a modified adjusted gross income of $88,000. The buyer's income exceeds $75,000 by $13,000. Dividing $13,000 by the phaseout range of $20,000 yields 0.65. When you subtract 0.65 from 1.0, the result is 0.35. Multiplying $8,000 by 0.35 shows that the buyer is eligible for a partial tax credit of $2,800.