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We are very glad to hear from so many who found yesterdays part 1 very informative. Today in part two we break down the exact meaning to each qualification along with answering some of the most common questions that have been asked. We are sure you will find todays information extremely useful to you.

Part 2…

We have had tons of people emailing us asking if this tax bill is just a renewal of the one enacted by Congress in July 2008 and the answer is a BIG “NO”. There are a few key differences between the two and probably the most important one to you is that this new tax credit does not have to be repaid. The previous one (which is still available to those who may not qualify for this specific one) basically was an interest free loan that you had to pay back. This new credit is truly that… a credit, however the home being purchased must be the principal residence for the taxpayer for a minimum of three years or you will be faced with a recapture of the credited amount, and like all rules there are some exceptions that will apply to that.

Here’s some additional good news; participating in the tax credit is really easy and simple. All you have to do is claim your tax credit on your federal income tax returns for 2009. More specifically home buyers will complete IRS form 5405 to determine their tax credit amounts, and then claim this amount on Line 69 of their 1040 returns, that’s it nothing else to do not even a pre-approval or screening all you have to do is make sure you fit the guidelines that have been laid out under the tax credit (hopefully this is being accomplished with the reading of this article).

Looking back through the thousands of emails we received that prompted us to write this article there were two other very common questions being asked and they were, what types of homes will qualify for the tax credit and what does it mean when they say the tax credit is refundable? The first question has a simple answer and that is ANY home qualifies from a single-family, to an attached home i.e. townhomes and condo’s, new construction (regardless if by a builder or if you hire your own contractors to build a home), manufactured homes (mobile homes) heck they have even included houseboats. As long as it’s your principal residence it qualifies. Principal residence is determined identically to how you may qualify for the $250,000 / $500,000 capital gain tax exclusion.

Something else we wanted to make clear here before we move on; if you decided to have your home built by contractors yourself you still qualify as long as your first occupy the residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.

So what about the refund and what does that mean?  This simply means that the tax credit can be claimed even if the home buyer has little or no federal income tax liabilities to offset. In other words if there are not enough debts to cancel out the tax credit a surplus from the tax credit may remain, in that case the federal government would then send the home buyer a check for any remaining portion. So for example if a qualified individual expected a tax liability of $6,000 and had tax withholdings of $4,000 then without the tax credit the individual would owe the IRS $2,000 on tax day (April 15^th). However if the individual taxes advantage of this tax credit and is qualified for the full $8,000 then on April 15^th they would be receiving a check for $6,000 ($8,000 tax credit - $2,000 tax liability).

For those individuals who purchase their home under the mortgage revenue bond (MBR) program you can combine the two together this is another notable change from the July 2008 tax credit where you could not combine it with your MBR.  As some of you may know there is also a nice home tax credit for first time homebuyers in the District of Columbia but unfortunately you can only claim one.

Tax credit versus tax deduction, are these two the same? The answer is NO. A Tax credit is a dollar for dollar reduction in what you will owe on your taxes. That means if you owed the IRS $8,000 on tax day and qualified for the housing tax credit you would owe the federal government nothing. A tax deduction is subtracted from the amount of income that you are taxed. So in our previous example let’s assume are individual is in the 15% tax bracket and received the $8,000 tax deduction the individuals liability would be reduced by $1,200 ($8,000 x 15%) so your tax liability would be lowered to $6,800 ($8,000 liability - $1,200 deduction). As you can see there is a significant difference between the two, and I am willing to bet a million dollars on which one you would prefer to have; kudos to this administration for really taking the route of tax credit and bringing greater value to the home buyer.

Another interesting note of this tax credit is that home buyers do not have to wait until they file their 2009 tax returns to access this credit. As long as you qualify you are permitted to reduce your income tax withholdings. By doing this by the amount of the credit you will receive will enable you to accumulate cash by raising his/her take home pay. In turn you can take this money and apply it to your down payment. To do this you would need to adjust your W-4 through your employer. Be warned that if you do reduce your withholdings and do not qualify for the tax credit you would then be liable for repayment and possibly interest charges and penalties.

There are some additional rule changes that were made with the economic stimulus that you may be able to take advantage of like the tax-exempt bonds. There are a few states whose housing agencies are introducing programs that will provide short term credit acceleration loans that may be used to fund a down payment.  Check with your state housing agency to determine the availability of such programs. Too our knowledge Maryland has not finalized any such program as of yet, but we have seen a lot about Missouri currently implementing this program.

With regards,

Antoine and Shonda Grier
ASG Investments, LLC

1-888-210-6134
Info@asginvestments.com

A tax credit of up to $8,000 is now available for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a primary residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. Unlike the first tax credit enacted in 2008, the new credit does not have to be repaid. One thing is for sure, the enhanced tax credit is providing an excellent opportunity for new home buyers. It’s no secret that we are in a struggling economy and the government has been taking steps to try and revive it, especially the housing market which many say is the heart of the problems. 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (The official name of the tax credit) has a few key components that home buyers should be aware of.  Most importantly … it’s for first time home buyers and the credit does not have to be paid back. The credit is equal to 10% of the homes purchase price or a maximum of $8,000.00, and is available for any home bought on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.  Single taxpayers with an annual income up to $75,000 and married couples with an income up to $150,000.00 can receive the tax break.

So with all this talk about first time home buyers lets be sure that you understand exactly what the government defines as a first time home buyer. The law defines “first-time home buyer” as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the past three-year period prior to the new home purchase. In addition for married couples, the law looks at both parties individually but it affects the couple as one. In other words, if you have not owned a property  in the past three years but your spouse has owned a principal residence, neither you or your spouse qualify for the tax credit.

However, the tax credit can work for unmarried joint purchases where one party can allocate the credit amount to any buyer who qualifies as a first time buyer. So a parent may jointly purchase a home with a son or daughter allowing the child to get the tax credit. In addition, ownership of vacation or rental properties that are not used as primary residence do still qualify as first time home buyers for the tax credit.

Now let’s take a closer look at the income limits and what all the small legal print exactly means.  It’s funny as I sit here and type this, a phrase that a good friend says popped into my head.  He would always say “Check the fine print, because what the good Lord giveth the fine print take away”.  Now what the income limits state specifically is that the tax credit amount is reduced for buyers with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) more than $75,000 for single buyers and $150,000 for married couples who file joint tax returns. If an individual makes greater than $95,000 or a couple makes greater than $170,000.00 then the tax credit is reduced to zero.  For individuals and couples who’s MAGI falls in between these ranges the tax credit is reduced proportionally.

Okay so I can just feel a few of your sitting there reading that last part and scratching your heads thinking  ”I thought you were going to explain this for us in easy terms”.  We are so — let’s first define exactly what this MAGI means. The IRS defines MAGI as the Modified Adjusted Gross Income.  To find yours you must first determine your “adjusted gross income” or “above-the-line deductions”, keep in mind this number is before itemized deductions from Schedule A or personal exemptions are subtracted. Simply put on your 1040 and 1040A tax forms your AGI.  It appears as the last number on page 1 and the first number on page 2. If you use the 1040-EZ, then your AGI shows up on line 4.  It is important to understand that AGI includes all forms of income including wages, salaries, interest income, dividends and capital gains.

Remember that was to discover your AGI, we still need to get to the MAGI and in order to do that we need to add to the AGI any foreign income, foreign-housing deductions, student-loan deductions, IRA-contributions deductions and deductions for higher-education cost as well. Once you have done that the number that is sitting in front of you is your current MAGI. To reiterate if your MAGI is over the limits either individually ($75,000) or jointly ($150,000) you still possibly can get partial credit of less than $8,000.

If you are like me you might work best with examples so let’s do one for both individuals and couples. Assume a single home buyer has a MAGI of $80,000, that buyer exceeds the single limit of $75,000 by $15,000. We take the $15,000 (amount over the limit) and divide it by $20,000 you get a 0.75 yield. Subtract that 0.75 from 1.0 and the result is .25, we then multiply $8,000 by the .25 and we discover that the homebuyer can still receive a tax credit of $2,000.

The same holds true for a married couple, for our example let’s say jointly they make $160,000 and the maximum amount is again $150,000 which means they are $10,000 over the limit. We take the $10,000 and divide it by $20,000 and we get a 0.5 yield. Subtract that 0.5 yield from 1.0 and we are left with 0.5. Then to determine their tax credit we take $8,000 and divide it by 0.5 to discover they still qualify for a $4,000 tax credit.

Another nice plus is that the law allows you to elect (choose) a qualified home purchase in 2009 as if the purchase occurred on December 31, 2008. I know, what does this mean for you? Well what it means is that the 2008 income limit (MAGI) applies and the election accelerates when the credit can be claimed. (Tax filling for 2008 returns instead of for your 2009 returns) This is a nice benefit to you the buyer because you know your 2008 MAGI with certainty, thereby helping the buyer know whether the income limit will reduce their credit amount.

Taxpayers buying a home who do wish to claim it on their 2008 returns, but have already submitted them to take advantage of the $7,500 tax credit but qualify for this tax credit can file an amendment to your 2008 tax returns (form 1040x) and then use the new tax credit that you will not have to repay.

Please remember ASG Investments is not a tax authority, and what we have just provided are examples of how the tax credits might be applied in different circumstances, you should always consult your tax advisor for information related specifically to you. Sorry folks, I had to get that disclaimer out of the way.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 coming 03/05/09.  Please feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have.

By: Antoine and Shonda Grier
ASG Investments, LLC
1-888-210-6134
Info@asginvestments.com