In response to failing housing markets and increased foreclosures over the year, the federal government has introduced new tax credits for first-time homeowners who purchased homes in 2008 and 2009.

The good news is that first-time homebuyers who purchase a home between April 9, 2009 and December 1, 2009 can receive a tax credit of 10% of the home’s purchase price with stipulations of course.

I recommend researching this further, but below I’ll try my best to summarize the main points.

For homes purchased in the 2009 specified dates above, the credit amount cannot exceed $8,000 and the buyer must live in the home for at least 3 years. Otherwise, you must pay the amount of the credit back in full.

For homes purchased in 2008, the credit cannot exceed $7,500 and it must be paid back. To learn more details about the 2008 tax credit visit the IRS website here.

FYI: If you haven’t filed your 2008 federal tax return yet, the form you must file with it is Form 5405.

Bottom line: If you’re looking to buy your first home soon and plan on living in it for awhile make sure you purchase it between April 9 and December 1 of this year.

I found this information on IRS.gov and this Austin American-Statesman article from last month- both good sources for more detailed information and information on other tax credits available.

Home Page

This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 2:58 pm and is filed under Austin Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.