First Time Home Buyer $8000 Tax Credit

First Time Home Buyer $8000 Tax Credit is still available, but quickly coming to an end.  You must close on your new home by December 1, 2009.  Keep in mind that most transactions take about 30 days.  So, time is really running out.

The law defines “first-time home buyer” as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. For married taxpayers, the law tests the homeownership history of both the home buyer and his/her spouse.

The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000.

Just as an example, assume that a married couple has a modified adjusted gross income of $160,000. The applicable phaseout to qualify for the tax credit is $150,000, and the couple is $10,000 over this amount. Dividing $10,000 by the phaseout 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.