About a week ago we brought you a post describing a proposal by Senators Cardin (D-Maryland) and Ensign (R-Nevada) that would give first-time homebuyers a $20,000 tax credit, replacing the current $7,500 credit. Unfortunately, it appears this proposal has failed to move forward.
However, on Wednesday night the Senate unanimously approved to add to the proposed stimulus package a new tax credit that would give ALL home buyers up to $15,000.
Proposed by Senator Isakson (R-Georgia) the tax credit would work like this: Buyers would get 10 percent of the purchase price of any primary home, up to $15,000, applied to their tax bill. Though the details remain to be finalized, the amendment would allow taxpayers to claim the credit on their 2008 taxes and will be recaptured if the home is sold within two years. The time frame for home purchases would be from the date of the stimulus’ enactment to one year thereafter.
Text of the amendment can be found here.
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Thanks for your article. This program helps people who are in a good enough credit position to actually purchase a home. Anything that helps some people will eventually help many people through trickle down economics.
A more effective program would have offered a credit of sorts that could be used by everyone who suffered a significant change in the value of their home. A flexible credit that could be applied to several scenarios rather than just buying a house.