The Home Buyer Credit came to an end on September 30th, 2010 and is now mostly forgotten. Now’s as good as time as any to remind you to consult your accountant about the Credit if you received it and are thinking about selling or moving out. There were various iterations of the Credit. The 2008 version was basically a 15 year interest free loan that starts to get repaid in the 2010 tax year ($500/year). The 2009 First Time Buyer Credit and the 2010 Home Buyer Credit (which was not just limited to first-time buyers) do not have to repaid unless the property claimed stops being your primary residence in the first three years of ownership (there are exceptions such as death, destruction of the home and divorce, so do your homework). From the IRS’s Buyer Credit Resource Page:
S9. What are repayment triggers for the first-time homebuyer credit?
A. Generally, if you received the first-time homebuyer credit for a home purchase in 2008, you must repay the credit over 15 years beginning with your 2010 tax return (repayment period). If you received the credit for a home purchase in 2009 or 2010, you do not have to repay the credit if you own and use the home as your main home for 36 months after the date of purchase. There are also exceptions to these general rules when a repayment triggering event occurs during the repayment period for 2008 home purchases or during the 36 month-period following 2009 or 2010 homes purchases.
S10. Taxpayer A sold her home to a related party. Is she required to repay the credit?
A. It doesn’t matter whether Taxpayer A had a gain or a loss on that property. She is required to repay the entire credit with the tax return for the year that she sold the home, reduced by any amount of the credit that she previously repaid.
S11. Taxpayer A converted her entire home to a business or rental property and no longer uses the home as her main home. Is she required to repay the credit?
A. Taxpayer A is required to repay the entire credit with the tax return for the year she converted the home, reduced by any amount of the credit that she previously repaid.
There are also more resources here on the 5405 Form instructions (PDF).
