$8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Qualifications: Do You Qualify?

Q: I purchased a new home in June, 2009. Do I qualify for any of the tax credits?

A: Possibly. But you would only qualify for the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, not the $6,500 trade-up home buyer tax credit.

You must meet the following qualifications in order to qualify for the first time home buyer tax credit: You must have not owned a personal residence in the past three years. You must have earned less than $75,000 as an individual or $150,000 as a married couple.

(If you were buying a home now through June 30, 2010, the income limits are higher: $125,000 as an individual or $225,000 as a married couple.) You must be living in the home you purchased as a primary residence and continue to live in it as your primary residence for thirty six months and did not purchase it from a parent, grandparent, child or grandchild or other close relative. Home purchased after November 6, 2009 may not cost more than $800,000.

If you meet these qualifications, you may qualify for the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit (which is structured as 10 percent of the purchase price up to $8,000).

If you owned a personal residence previously and had owned it for five years and simply traded up to this new home, you would not qualify for the $6,500 trade-up buyer tax credit. That replacement home tax credit was not available when you purchased your home and is only available to home buyers on or after November 6, 2009.

I have a lot of information about the rules regarding the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit at ThinkGlink.com. Go there and search “tax credit” and take a look at the following Tax Credit articles below:

$8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Qualifications Issues
8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Has Rules Against Buying From Close Relatives
8000 Tax Credit First Time Home Buyer Rules For Buying With A Partner