My daughter and son-in-law purchased their first home, owner occupied one year ago. They have met ALL the requirements for the rebate and still nothing has happened.
They only get delay after delay and very threatening letters about fraud. They have done everything asked of them. The government office, just asks for more and more paperwork, stating they haven't received the needed papers and always it's a different worker.
What can they do to get this rebate? They get notices stating they are rejected, my son-in-law calls and then they are told to send more papers. They are so scared to do anything wrong.
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.
=====ANSWER=====
Hello Arlene,
Thank you for coming by my site and asking your questions. I will do the best I can to answer them, but first you need to know I'm not a tax professional.
If you are referring to the first time home buyer tax credit which ended last year, then I must say I'm shocked your children have not received the credit yet.
To my understanding it was to be a credit on their personal tax returns. It should have showed up this year. Here's what the IRS website states:
=====IRS QUOTE BEGINS=====
For 2010 Home Purchases
The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009, signed into law on Nov. 6, 2009, extended and expanded the first-time homebuyer credit allowed by previous Acts.
Under this law, an eligible taxpayer must have bought, or entered into a binding contract to buy, a principal residence on or before April 30, 2010, and close on the home by June 30, 2010. For qualifying purchases in 2010, taxpayers have the option of claiming the credit on either their 2009 or 2010 return.
This law also:
Authorized the credit for long-time homeowners buying a new principal residence.
Raised the income limitations for homeowners claiming the credit.
=====END IRS QUOTE=====
So based on this IRS quote, they should have been able to complete the forms, and seen this credit on the tax return for 2010 which was due by mid April of this year.
The fact that they are getting the run around by the tax authorities does not surprise me. Sadly the system is broken and there is not much you or I can do about this.
However, they may want to try and go back to whomever helped them fill out the forms in the first place. If a title company was involved in helping, then I would go there first. There may have been some mistakes on the closing papers and forms filled out at the closing.
I would not worry about doing something wrong. If you want to read the page at the IRS website here's the link: IRS First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.
I'm not a tax professional, but if they met the guidelines listed on that website they should still get the credit. They may have to file an amended tax return. They also may want to consult with a tax person.
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