Tuesday, March 30, 2010

30 Days and Counting: Homebuyer Tax Credit Expires

Time is running out to claim the popular first time homebuyers tax credit. Taxpayers thinking about claiming the credit only have 30 days to enter into a contract, and the sale has to close escrow before the end of June in order to quality. CNN Money posted a story discussing the upcoming deadline. You can checkout a section of their article below, or click here for the full text.

Attention shoppers: You have barely a month left before the homebuyer tax credit expires. But depending on where you live, you might not want to rush out to buy.

First-time homebuyers may qualify for up to $8,000, while those who are trading up could get as much as $6,500. But either way, buyers have to ink sales contracts by the end of April and close before July 1 to see the refund.

And this is absolutely, positively your last chance to claim the credit. (Probably.) So don't wait, thinking the credit will be extended for a third time.

There is little sentiment for continuing this program, especially because many consider the latest iteration's results to be disappointing. Even the Senate's biggest proponent of the homebuyer tax credit, Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., is ready to let it end.

"He has no plans to introduce legislation to extend the credit," said Isakson's spokeswoman. "Part of the benefit of the tax credit was the urgency its sun-setting generated."

That urgency was less pronounced after the latest extension, which was enacted last fall. While the first version, which just covered first-time homebuyers, netted huge sales jumps, the real estate market slumped over the winter and early spring.

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