If you're planning to claim use the credit and haven't started looking for a home, your clock is officially ticking. You must be closed on your new home on or before December 1.
Because purchase closings come 60-days standard, therefore, your $8,000 is in jeopardy unless you go under contract prior to October 2, 2009. That's 73 days from now.
Use it or lose it. The First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In it, Congress authorized a first-time homebuyer tax credit of up to $8,000 for home buyers meeting certain qualifying criteria. The program's goal was to stimulate entry-level home purchases and, by most measures, the plan has been successful.
First-time home buyers accounted for about one-third of all home resales in May.
Now, the IRS definition of "first-time home buyer" may be different from what you expect. According to the IRS, a first-time home buyer is anyone who has not owned a "main home" in the last 3 years with "main home" defined as a home in which a person has lived "for most of the time". Main homes can include traditional homes, houseboats, trailers and other residence types.
For couples -- married or otherwise -- both home buyers must be first-timers to be tax credit-eligible.
Moreover, not every first-time home buyer is eligible for the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. Some notable exclusionary cases include first-time home buyers who:
-- File taxes separately and whose adjusted gross income exceeds $95,000
-- File taxes jointly and whose adjusted gross income exeeeds $170,000
-- Acquire property from a mother, father, sibling or child
-- Acquire property from an entity in which they're a majority owner
-- Acquire the home by gift or inheritance
And then, the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit may not deliver the full $8,000.
The tax credit is limited to 10 percent of the home's purchase price the it also diminishes as home buyer income rises. Tax credit phase-outs start at $75,000 for homebuyers filing separately and $150,000 on joint returns.
Assuming you qualify, though, the good news is that it's easy to claim your tax credit.
-- Buy and close on a new, "main" home before December 1, 2009.
-- Submit IRS Form 5405 with your 2009 tax returns in April 2010.
That's it.
Meanwhile, the program does come with some gotchas. For example, If you sell your home, or cease to use it as your "main home" within 36 months of purchase, the IRS will require a full payback. There are only a few allowable exceptions to this policy and you shouldn't count on being granted one.
Not moving in the next 3 years? Don't worry about it.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Summer’s Coming, But Confusion Reigns Over Federal Pool Safety Law
Summer’s Coming, But Confusion Reigns Over Federal Pool Safety Law
Nearly four months after the federal Pool and Spa Safety Act went into effect and with summer swimming season coming soon, many public pool owners still are unsure about what they need to do to comply with the law and unscrupulous businesses are trying to cash in on the confusion.
The law requires the owners of all public pools and spas – including those in hotels, apartment complexes, home-owners associations and other common areas – to install covers on pool drains. In the past 20 years, dozens of children have become sucked into or trapped underwater in the drains and died or been severely injured.
Maybe it’s because the law was launched in the cold of winter, when most of the country is hardly thinking of taking a dip, but there seems to be a lot of uncertainty over how to comply with the newish law.
There are about 300,000 public pools in the United States, mostly in warm weather states like California, Florida, Arizona, and Texas. However, only about 30 percent of pools currently comply with the law, officials said.
Since violating the law carries some hefty fines — up to $1.8 million per infraction plus criminal penalties, including additional fines and imprisonment – it makes sense for pool owners to make sure they are in compliance.
Requirements Spelled Out, Myths Debunked
Since there has been much misinformation spread about the requirements of the pool and spa safety act, federal officials are taking some time to spell out the rules.
All public pools must include approved safety drain covers, while single drain public pools must also install approved anti-entrapment devices, such as a Safety Vacuum Release System (SVRS), an automatic pump shut-off system, a gravity drainage system, or a suction-limiting vent system, officials said.
Privately owned pools and spas in the backyards of private homes are NOT covered by the law and are not required to install any drain covers. Reports have been received about pool maintenance companies quoted thousands of dollars to install the required covers, but officials said no such costs are warranted in order to comply with the law.
Other details just re-released include:
• Single drain public pools are NOT required to install multiple drains. The federal law only requires that single drain pools install approved anti-entrapment drain covers and use one of the other secondary layers of protection listed above.
• Pools do NOT need to be drained in order for drain covers to be installed. Doing so could waste billions of dollars of water.
• The law does NOT require public pools install new sumps.
• Dual drain pools only need to install approved safety drain covers to comply with the law, but PSC and Safe Kids strongly recommend all pools and spas, even private residential pools and spas, install both approved drain covers and an additional layer of protection.
Writing this from sunny San Diego (75 degrees and sunny, again!), we nonetheless feel compelled to remind the rest of the United States that summer swimming season is approaching fast. In another couple of months, millions of U.S. school children will don swimming trunks and bathing suits and dive into one of thousands of public pools.
Without the pool drain covers and other safety measures now mandated by the Pool and Spa Safety Act, these children are increased risk of death and severe injuries. Please take time today to double check your community pool and ask the owner of the pool if they have installed the safety devices. Let’s make the summer of 2009 safe and fun when it comes to children’s pool safety.
Nearly four months after the federal Pool and Spa Safety Act went into effect and with summer swimming season coming soon, many public pool owners still are unsure about what they need to do to comply with the law and unscrupulous businesses are trying to cash in on the confusion.
The law requires the owners of all public pools and spas – including those in hotels, apartment complexes, home-owners associations and other common areas – to install covers on pool drains. In the past 20 years, dozens of children have become sucked into or trapped underwater in the drains and died or been severely injured.
Maybe it’s because the law was launched in the cold of winter, when most of the country is hardly thinking of taking a dip, but there seems to be a lot of uncertainty over how to comply with the newish law.
There are about 300,000 public pools in the United States, mostly in warm weather states like California, Florida, Arizona, and Texas. However, only about 30 percent of pools currently comply with the law, officials said.
Since violating the law carries some hefty fines — up to $1.8 million per infraction plus criminal penalties, including additional fines and imprisonment – it makes sense for pool owners to make sure they are in compliance.
Requirements Spelled Out, Myths Debunked
Since there has been much misinformation spread about the requirements of the pool and spa safety act, federal officials are taking some time to spell out the rules.
All public pools must include approved safety drain covers, while single drain public pools must also install approved anti-entrapment devices, such as a Safety Vacuum Release System (SVRS), an automatic pump shut-off system, a gravity drainage system, or a suction-limiting vent system, officials said.
Privately owned pools and spas in the backyards of private homes are NOT covered by the law and are not required to install any drain covers. Reports have been received about pool maintenance companies quoted thousands of dollars to install the required covers, but officials said no such costs are warranted in order to comply with the law.
Other details just re-released include:
• Single drain public pools are NOT required to install multiple drains. The federal law only requires that single drain pools install approved anti-entrapment drain covers and use one of the other secondary layers of protection listed above.
• Pools do NOT need to be drained in order for drain covers to be installed. Doing so could waste billions of dollars of water.
• The law does NOT require public pools install new sumps.
• Dual drain pools only need to install approved safety drain covers to comply with the law, but PSC and Safe Kids strongly recommend all pools and spas, even private residential pools and spas, install both approved drain covers and an additional layer of protection.
Writing this from sunny San Diego (75 degrees and sunny, again!), we nonetheless feel compelled to remind the rest of the United States that summer swimming season is approaching fast. In another couple of months, millions of U.S. school children will don swimming trunks and bathing suits and dive into one of thousands of public pools.
Without the pool drain covers and other safety measures now mandated by the Pool and Spa Safety Act, these children are increased risk of death and severe injuries. Please take time today to double check your community pool and ask the owner of the pool if they have installed the safety devices. Let’s make the summer of 2009 safe and fun when it comes to children’s pool safety.
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