Courtesy of the National Association of Realtors – yes, I always knew they were good for something- we finally have the details of the new home buyer tax credit from the recently passed  stimulus bill, or the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009″ as it is now officially called.  According to the NAR:

The bill provides for a $8,000 tax credit that would be available to first-time home buyers for the purchase of a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.  The credit does not require repayment.  Most of the mechanics of the credit will be the same as under the 2008 rules:  the credit will be claimed on a tax return to reduce the purchaser’s income tax liability.  If any credit amount remains unused, then the unused amount will be refunded as a check to the purchaser.

There is also a PDF file on the site with a table highlighting the differences between the old $7,500 tax credit and the new one.

My buyers have lots of questions about the proposed $15,000 home buyer tax credit that is a part of the Sentate version of the economic stimulus package.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of answers, as this bill has NOT BEEN FINALIZED yet. It goes up for a vote tomorrow, so no one is sure what the final details will look like.

However, if you’d like to get an idea of what the proposed tax credit might look like, there are a few good write-ups about it out there.

Financial blog Calculated Risk has put together as much information as they could find about the proposed tax credit, starting with key details and going on into a comprehensive overview. Keep in mind this is only what they know now, and  this information may no longer be accurate  if the Senate bill changes.

Also,the WSJ has a FAQ on the prosposed tax credit that is worth checking out. Again,  if the Senate bill changes… well, you know the drill.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this today and tomorrow and will post updates as they become available.