The homebuyer credit is repaid as an additional tax on your federal tax return if you bought your home and qualified in 2008. It must be repaid at the rate of 6 2/3%, or 1/15 of your credit amount. This works out to annual repayments of $500 per year if you received the maximum $7,500 credit.

What is repayment of homebuyer credit?

To repay the credit, you must increase your federal income taxes by 6⅔% (or 1/15) of the amount of the credit for each taxable year in the 15-year repayment period. The repayment period begins with the second taxable year following the year of qualifying home purchase.

What happens to your tax credit when you sell your home?

And when you sell your home, the remaining unpaid tax credit is added to your taxes for that year. So if you claimed the $7,500 credit in 2008, repaid $500 with your 2010 tax return, and sold your home in 2011, be prepared for an additional $7,000 tax bite when you file your tax return in April.

Are there any tax credits for first time home buyers?

Under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, certain homeowners were eligible for a tax credit equal to 10 percent of the purchase price of a home, up to a maximum of $7,500. Married individuals filing separately could get a $3,750 credit.

When did you get the 7, 500 home purchase credit?

So if you qualified for the maximum credit of $7,500, this means a yearly loan payment of $500. The loan/credit applied only to homes purchased after April 8, 2008, and before Jan. 1, 2009.

What’s the maximum amount you can repay for the tax credit?

Recognizing that the credit repayment could easily exceed the amount you realize, the IRS caps the amount you owe in recapture to the amount of the gain you realize. So if you bought your home for $150,000 and your sales proceeds after costs of sale are only $152,000, the maximum credit you’d have to repay is $2,000.