McCaskill Works to Extend Homebuyer Tax Credit For Troops Serving Overseas

September 30, 2009

by Missouri RealEstateRama

Category: News || Laws & Taxes | No Comments

Legislation moves back deadline on stimulus tax credit for men and women serving abroad

WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 30, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — While many American families have taken advantage of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit and other benefits available through the economic recovery effort, many American heroes have been deployed overseas and thus unable to take advantage of this valuable credit to help them buy a home of their own. Today, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill introduced a bill in the Senate to extend until November 30, 2010 the availability of this credit of up to $8,000 toward the purchase of a first home for service members deployed abroad for more than 90 days during 2009.

“Buying a home is an essential part of the American dream – a dream our troops fight for – and those service members should not be denied that dream because of their service abroad,” McCaskill said.

The First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit is part of the economic development effort aimed at spurring the real estate and mortgage markets and was established in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The program offers a tax credit of up to $8,000 to qualified home-buyers toward the purchase of a first home provided the purchase is made by November 30, 2009. For members of the armed, intelligence, and foreign services whose overseas deployments could have prevented them from taking full advantage of the tax credit, McCaskill’s legislation would extend the deadline for one additional year.

Additionally, the bill would ensure that service members do not have to repay the first-time home buyer tax credit if they are deployed overseas or assigned to a new military station within three years of purchase. It would also exempt certain payments from the Department of Defense’s Housing Assistance Program (HAP) from incurring additional taxes in order to make the tax rules applicable to HAP payments consistent between previous law and the stimulus.

A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives. For more information on the first time home buyer tax credit, click here.