Yet another first time home buyer tax question

Anonymous · ‎02-23-2009

My boyfriend and I are buying a house together. Since we are not married, would one of us claim the full credit, or would we split it and each claim $4,000? I'm not having a lot of luck finding the answer to this. Thanks!

Anonymous · ‎02-23-2009

Since you are not married and you would have to file seperately. One person would have to file the credit! Period! The credit can be taken over two years but it must be taken by the same person. You'll have to trust one another on this one. One person files and you split the moeny when the check comes back.

SanDiegoEngineer · ‎02-23-2009

@Anonymous wrote:
Since you are not married and you would have to file seperately. One person would have to file the credit! Period! The credit can be taken over two years but it must be taken by the same person. You'll have to trust one another on this one. One person files and you split the moeny when the check comes back.

This is incorrect.

The law in fact specifically covers this scenario. In the case of two unmarried people who jointly purchase a house, they each are entitled to file for half of the tax credit. The same rules apply if the couple is married filing seperate tax returns.

BTW, the current credit is also a one year only credit - it can not be split over two years (that was the 15K Senate bill credit that was nixed during reconciliation with the House bill), but since the credit is fully refundable (i.e. you can claim and get a refund for the full amount even if it exceeds your total tax liability for the year), there is no reason why you want to split it over two years.

Cheers,

SDEngineer

Message Edited by SanDiegoEngineer on 02-23-2009 02:01 PM

Anonymous · ‎02-23-2009

As someone in a similar position (fiance is 2nd time homebuyer, I'm first), I'd like to chime in to say you can actually read an "unmarried persons" summary with examples on the irs.gov website (go to individuals>1040 central>1st Time Homebuyers>Notice 2009-12. We actually changed from "joint tenants" to "tenants in common" because the examples provided by the IRS all detail scenarios with TIC. Make sure you talk with a tax advisor or just call the IRS before you buy, if you want to ensure you get your credit.

Good Luck!

Anonymous · ‎02-23-2009

my fiance and i bought a home together. closed 1/5/09. we filed for the 7,500 tax credit. each of us filed SEPERATE returns as SINGLE

we both will recieve 3,750.00 as we each own 50% of the home

if you file with turbo tax, it will ask you if you own all or part of the home and if part what % and will calculate the credit for you.

if you have any ?'s call the irs, they will answer anything for you

Anonymous · ‎02-23-2009

Don't forget about the income limits. In my case, my bf wouldn't qualify to claim the credit because he makes too much. I fall within the income limits, therefore, I'm able to claim the entire credit. The instructions (noted above) list all possible scenario's for unmarried owners and how to claim it. The general gist is that the total claimed can only amount to $8k for that one purchase.

Anonymous · ‎02-23-2009

Thanks so much for your answers! We will both be filing single, and we are nowhere near the income limits, so that wont be a problem

Turbotax wasn't set up to claim the new tax credit yet, it still showed the $7,500 credit, so I will go back in when it updates and finish my return.

Anonymous · ‎02-23-2009

yeah our turbo tax hasnt updated either. i was told by the irs phone people i could amend our returns more then once, so we went ahead and took the 7,500.

even if we have to pay it back cause we cant amend to get the new deal, it's no big deal to us. our only income is non-taxable, so it would do little to affect us.

Anonymous · ‎02-23-2009

Did you buy the house in 2008. If so, the 7500 credit is the correct amount and you will have to pay it back.