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First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - Use it by December 1st or Lose it!

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty, Eugene & Springfield

The government's First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit expires December 1, 2009.

If you expect to use the program in conjunction with a home purchase, you may want to consider yourself officially "on the clock".

Assuming a 60-day window between contract and closing, there are now 77 days left to find a home and go under contract for it.

The First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit refunds up to $8,000 at Tax Time for qualified home buyers. A few of the program's qualification criteria include:

1. Home buyer must not have owned a primary residence in the past 36 months

2. The home may not be purchased from a family member.

3. The household adjusted gross income must be below $95,000 for single tax filers and $170,000 for joint tax filers. To receive the full credit, it's $75,000 and $150,000 for singles and joint filers, respectively.

4. The tax credit itself is limited to $8,000 or 10% of the purchase price, whichever is less.

Remember, though: The refund is a true tax credit - not a deduction. This means that a taxpayer owing $8,000 to the IRS and claiming the $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit would owe the IRS nothing on April 15, 2010.

The complete list of qualifying criteria is posted on the IRS website, click the link below to download it.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5405.pdf

Comments (1)

Charlottesville Solutions
Charlottesville Solutions - Charlottesville, VA

It will be interesting to see if this gets extended to next year

your friend in Charlottesville Virginia!

Jul 17, 2009 02:50 AM