The current tax credit for first time home buyers expires in a few months. If first time home buyers do not close on a home before December 1, 2009, they will not get the tax credit. There have been rumblings in Washington about expanding and/or extending the tax credit to continue to stimulate the economy.
H.R. 2801 (111th Congress) 2009-2010 Home Ownership Moves the Economy (HOME) Act of 2009, is a bill sponsored by Howard Coble, a U.S. Representative from North Carolina’s 6th District. Representative Coble’s bill's goal is to extend the tax credit into 2010 as well as allow all home buyers take advantage of the tax credit.
The bill aims to do three things:
- Extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit to all individuals who buy a principal residence (currently, only available to first-time homebuyers)
- Extend tax credit and the waiver of recapture requirements for such credit through 2010
- Repeal the limitation on such credit based on modified adjusted gross income.
This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee. As of June 10, 2009, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
There are about a dozen other Representatives behind the bill, but the US Congress will need to find a way to fund the bill if it becomes law to have any chances of keeping it alive. The House will be back in session in September, so we will have to wait a little longer to see if the bill will make it out of committee.
As of November 2009, Congress approved a tax credit extension. See details here:
First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended Until April 2010.
How do you feel about this potential extension? Would it benefit you? Do you think that the tax credit should become available to everyone, regardless of income? Let you congressional representatives know by contacting them by phone or email.
Considering your first home?Estimate your monthly mortgage payments before home shopping!
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