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House Extends Tax Credit to Active Military for One More Year

Yesterday the House of Representatives unanimously voted to extend the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit to active military personnel, foreign service and intelligence officers. HR 3590 extends the existing tax credit to this group until November 30th, 2010. The bill now goes to the Senate, and is expected to pass with the same ease.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) because it was thought that military personel serving oversees this year did not have the same opportunity to take advantage of the tax credit. If the original qualifications are met, the extension applies to military personnel who spent at least 90 days of the current calendar year oversees. It also does not require borrowers to payback the tax credit if they are deployed after receiving it. The current tax credit requires borrowers payback the tax credit if they do not occupy the home within three years of receiving the tax credit.

No word yet on whether the $8,000 tax credit will be extended for all eligible borrowers.

Posted by Nicole Lahti, Austin Texas Mortgage on 10/13/2009 03:52 PM

Comments (63)

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63 Comments on House Extends Tax Credit to Active Military for One More Year

OCT

The writing is on the wall. The tax credit will be extended for 6 months. This looks a lot like a trial run to get public opinion.

Nicole,

That seems like the right thing to do. I'm sure the senate will pass it as well.

Nicole I agree with the concept and hope it becomes law Karen

Makes sense to for sure give the military this benefit. I would say they go about 3 more months on the tax credit to the general public.

I cannot think of a more deserving group of individuals. Thanks for the update!

Sounds like a great idea to me.

Patricia

If anyone should be getting assistance right now it is our returning vets. I am not in favour of an extension to the tax credit, but find it hard to argue with this.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. At least one of my borrowers here in Tucson will benefit from this.

SImon

Nicloe - that directly affect two of our present buyers! Yipee! Thanks for the great news!

I have no doubt that the Senate will pass it for returning Vets, as they should. I'm not so sure about extending it for everyone else though. There is much debate about the debt and extending the credit will only add to it.

I think this is a great idea. The members of our armed forces are certainly underpaid.

I'm not necesaarily in favor of extending the tax credit for everyone, but in this I think it's a great idea.

Be interesting to see if they extend this credit for all first time buyers.

This is huge! I hope the Senate passes it and the President signs it!

This is such great news. Thanks for the breaking news and thanks for allowing me to reblog it!

Nicole, this is great news for our deployed Veterans...

I saw your post on this earlier and it's nice to see another Austin blogger featured!

Nicole. This should be a no-brainer for the senate to pass. If the military put their lives on the line for us. We should extend this offer, no questions asked.

valerie osterhoudt

Thank you for updating us so succinctly!

I wonder how or if it will be extended. I think it may not be even though it has done a lot of good here in Detroit.

Nicole - I hadn't heard about this until now. Cool stuff - glad to hear it!

Just another announcement that will keep current buyers on the fence. They might jump if they know it's going to expire, but they'll never have a reason to get off and buy something if they think it's going to extend and extend and extend...

Nicole, I am happy about the military extension because it is not our active personnel's fault if they couldn't do it this year due to deployment or possible deployment!

Nicole - This sounds like a great idea in my opinion. Thanks for sharing!

Nicole ~ I also hope the Senate passes as well and further extends it to anyone who wants to by any type of home.

Nicole, I'm so glad to hear they are doing this for our military men and women. What a worthy bunch! I'm thrilled to hear they won't have to repay if they deploy as well.

Nicole: Thanks for the informative article and beneficial details. Much appreciated! Looking forward to hearing that the Senate passed this as well ...

Gene

I've not made a secret that I don't favor the extension or expansion of the tax credit... but in the case of military families, I actually applaud Congress. And it has nothing to do with creating sales, but rather with rewarding these people that are VERY deserving of getting the break.

Nicole - thanks for the information...I think Congress should at least extend the tax credit for military families. Hopefully the Senate passes it.

I am not in favor of extending this mess but I do think it is appropriate for our military. They do not get enough thanks. I personally think the extension should only apply to those who were serving active duty over seas.

Hi Nicole -- While I'm not a fan of extending this 8K credit, I am 100% happy it is being done for our men and women in uniform and others closely allied with other tasks.

that is such great news. I live in a military community and this is going to go over huge.

Nicole. this is indeed great information and will allow our service members the opportunity to take advantage of the program.

OCT

This a great idea ! We can not begin to repay our troops for the sacrifices they are making for our country !!!

Nicole - Good, I grew up a Navy brat (some say I still am) and believe that this is the right decision for all active service military families... I'm just praying that EVERYONE gets the same opportunity - we need the tax credit in Florida!

This is great. So many of these folks MUST move across the globe and they need every break we can give them.

I have a client that will be tickled to death to hear this! Siemper Fi!

WOuld you direct me to the rule that says they have to pay back the $8000 tax credit if they do not occupy the home within 3 y ears of receiving the tax credit?

Are military personnel required to pay it back with this new legislation?

Great news.

Thanks for sharing - Hopefully, the market will benefit as well as the vets! ~ Diana ~

Nicole,

Thanks for the update. This is wonderful for all military personnel who have served our country this past year, but didn't have the opportunity to find a home for themselves or family. Now let's serve those who have served us.....

Thanks for your comments everyone!

Karen -- read my post on the original tax credit: http://activerain.com/blogsview/946373/the-8-000-tax-credit-let-s-break-it-down. It explains the "recapture" period if a homeowner fails to occupy the property within the first 3 years of purchasing a home. It also includes a link to the original bill where you can find this rule.

Under the extension for military personnel, the recapture does not apply to them if they fail to occupy the home within the first three years due to "official extended duty service".

Hope this helps!

Looks as if this is a popular topic over the last few days. It is a good thing for the right reasons.

Nicole: I can't think of another group of more deserving individuals ... I would like to see their credit doubled! Thanks for the update.

Sounds Gooooood to me... It should be higher for our Troops..

George

They should give banks additional incentive to accept their offers as most in our area cant get a VA offer accepted when competing with cash investors.

Good news. It seems to me that when we expect people to risk their lives for us, we should do whatever we can for them when tehy return. This is irrespective of whether we support the actual fighting or not.

just extended for everyone across the board and lets move on.

This is an excellent idea and the fact it based the house 416 to 0 is a good sign. I would like to see it extended for everyone.

Our heroes desrve this consideration!

Kimberly Thomas, Broker Associate

Realty Executives Brown & Pope

Voorhees, NJ

Hi Nicole,

Great information, thanks for sharing it with all of us. I recently heard this information below, have you heard of it as well?

"The Kiplinger Tax Letter" Vol. 84, No. 20 dated October 02, 2009 the following, "The $8,000. credit for first time home buyers will be extended for a few months, and congress will clarify that first time purchasers don't have to complete the sale by the expiration date to get the tax credit. They need only to sign a contract.

Does anyone else have information on this?

Thanks,

Debbie

It's about time, our Lilitary deserves this. Next, it's about time the administration realizes that when the real estate market does well, the economy follows as it always has. Let them increase it and make more buyers eligible.

From my understanding its only being considered by Congress, but nothing has passed. Otherwise, I think we would've already heard a lot about it.

Here is an article from today on CNN.com on what exactly is being considered with an extension of the $8,000 tax credit:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/14/news/economy/home_buyer_tax_credit_extension/index.htm?section=money_realestate

Thanks for the update. I'm anxious to see how it all turns out.

Great news. As an Armed Forces Retiree and now in this career I do hope congress does more for our active military. I've see first hand young man and women deploy from Fort Hood, Texas. All is well as long as they are in one piece but as soon as they get hurt then they get pushed out.

If this gets approved, although for a short period, it is a great benefit for our deployed soldiers.

Thanks for sharing.

Luis Colindres, Texas

Thank you for this breaking news Nicole!

Our armed forces put themselves on the line for us every day and they deserve this credit!

Wow, that sure came out of nowhere! Being a Viet Nam veteran myself with 3 children who are or have been in the military, I can't think of a more deserving group of people to give it to! Now to see how long it takes them to make up their minds about the rest of the population!

Thanks for the cutting edge news!!! A great step in the right direction.

This is great news. My nephew has been deployed to Afganistan for the past year and will return in the spring, and this will help him greatly! I would suggest they consider extending the tax credit to all home buyers, but reduce the amount to $4,000, making it easier on the federal debt.

Nothing is too good for our Military, perhaps consider for Police, Firefighters. Homeland Security persons:
not in agreement for anyone else; already too many 3.5% owners in default.
Glad I clicked on your post--did not see this 13 Oct.
Barb [ & Sal, too]

This is great, hopefully they will extend it for everyone.

OCT

In last correction of the 1990's our economy (at least in California) brought down housing industry. This round the housing brought down the economy. Our administration should realize the benefit of either extending or provide a similar or improved version of tax credit to continue the present momentum of housing purchase entheusiasm.

This is a step in the right direction. Now we just need them to extend it for all first-time home buyers!

Does this cover National Guard who were activated or does it only cover regular Army, Navy etc.?

OCT

Hi James, the bill reads qualified military are one of the following. Not sure if National Guard falls into any of these categories, but hopefully this helps:

(I) a member of the uniformed services, (II) a member of the Foreign Service of the United States, or (III) as an employee of the intelligence community.

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