Homebuyers who purchased a home in 2008, 2009 or 2010 may be able to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer credit.

The credit:

• Applies only to homes used as a taxpayer’s principal residence.
• Reduces a taxpayer’s tax bill or increases his or her refund, dollar for dollar.
• Is fully refundable, meaning the credit will be paid out to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax owed.

Please Click here for IRS Form to be attached to your annual tax return.

Make it a great day!
Mark Spurbeck
Senior VP,
Ticor Title

This question recently came from one of our valued clients in the Bellevue, WA area:

Q: Does King County charge additional recording fees when the Purchase and Sale agreement accompanies the excise tax affidavit?

A: The Washington State Department of Revenue conducts an audit of every excise tax affidavit that is processed in connection with sale transactions whenever the sales price is less than the tax assessed value (or whenever the transaction is considered exempt from excise tax).

Although the specific requirements may vary slightly from county to county it may be necessary to provide a copy of the purchase and sale agreement (a/k/a “the contract”) to accompany the excise tax affidavit and the sale documents. The copy of the contract is not recorded and there is no additional cost or fee involved with providing it to the County.

For More Information:

Below is an exerpt  from Fox Business – For the entire article click here http://bit.ly/5vYUSn

Prospective homeowners — take a deep a breath. You now have well into 2010 to receive a potential $8,000 tax credit.

The credit, included the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, was initially scheduled to expire Nov. 30, 2009, but will now extend to homebuyers who sign a contract by April 2010. Also new to the act are conditions that expand the credit to previous homeowners and those formerly outside the income requirements.

The expansion of the act was aimed to boost the housing market, and it appears to be working. According the National Association of Realtors, 47 percent of all Americans who bought a home this year had not owned one in the past three years. That number is up from 41 percent of sales in 2008 and 36 percent in 2006.

There are three new provisions in the act, according to an IRS press release:

Make it a Great Day!
Mark Spurbeck
Senior VP
Ticor Title

Click here for IRS Withholding Calculator – IRS Withholding Calculator

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, introduced several changes that affect this Withholding Calculator:

1. The new Making Work Pay Credit: The new withholding tables that employers should have implemented by April 1 have been incorporated into the calculator. You should use this calculator to ensure that the reduced withholding will not result in having too little income tax withheld (possibly causing you to owe taxes next year) if: You are an employee with two concurrent jobs, You and your spouse both work, or You can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return (since you are not eligible for this credit).
2. Pension income: Non-government pension income is not eligible for the Making Work Pay Credit, and the calculator now accounts for this. If you expect to receive a significant amount of pension income in 2009, you should use this calculator so that you can adjust your withholding appropriately for the second half of the year.
3. Unemployment Compensation: The first $2,400 of unemployment compensation an individual receives in 2009 is now tax free. The Withholding Calculator now accounts for this, so enter the full amount into the calculator.

Purpose of This Computer Program
The purpose of this application is to help employees to ensure that they do not have too much or too little income tax withheld from their pay. It is not a replacement for Form W-4, but most people will find it more accurate and easier to use than the worksheets that accompany Form W-4. You may use the results of this program to help you complete a new Form W-4, which you will submit to your employer.

Tips For Using This Program

• Have your most recent pay stubs handy.
• Have your most recent income tax return handy.
• Fill in all information that applies to your situation.
• Estimate values if necessary, remembering that the results can only be as accurate as the input you provide.
• Consult the information links embedded in the program whenever you have a question.
• Print out the final screen that summarizes your input and the results, then use it to complete a new Form W-4 (if necessary), and keep it for your records.

Who Can Benefit From This Application?

• Employees who would like to change their withholding to reduce their tax refund or their balance due;
• Employees whose situations are only approximated by the worksheets on the paper W-4 (e.g., anyone with concurrent jobs, or couples in which both are employed; those entitled to file as Head of Household; and those with several children eligible for the Child Tax Credit);
• Employees with non-wage income in excess of their adjustments and deductions, who would prefer to have tax on that income withheld from their paychecks rather than make periodic separate payments through the estimated tax procedures.

For Special Situations
If your situation is among those listed below, you will probably achieve more accurate withholding by following the instructions in Publication 919, How Do I Adjust My Tax Withholding?

• If you will be subject to alternative minimum tax, self-employment tax, or other taxes; or
• If any of your current jobs will end before the end of the year.

NOTE: The information you provide is anonymous and will be used only for purposes of this calculation. It will not be shared, stored or used in any other way, nor can it be used to identify the individual who enters it. It will be discarded when you exit this program.

Continue to the Withholding Calculator

Make it a great day!
Mark Spurbeck
Senior VP
Ticor Title

I have had the question come up multiple times… When does the homebuyer Credit Extension expires in 2010?

Homebuyer Credit Expanded and Extended
More information from IRS.gov click here.

The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009, signed into law on Nov. 6, 2009, extends and expands the first-time homebuyer credit allowed by previous Acts.

Under the new law, an eligible taxpayer must buy, or enter 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.

Make it a great day!

Mark Spurbeck
Senior VP
Ticor Title

This first time home home buyer tax credit has been extended until April 30, 2010. This is great news for home buyers who needed a little more time to act on this opportunity. Here’s a quick and fun video explaining the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers and $6,500 tax credit for existing home buyers.



Enjoy!

Matt Sweet

Ticor Title

Ryan Kalalau
Ticor Title Company
VP – Sales & Marketing

Please visit this PDF link to review Homebuyer Tax Credit Changes.

This link is a perfect handout for potential buyers and it does a nice job of comparing the previous tax credit benefits with the newly extended package.

The main points:

• Extended to the time frame of December 1, 2009 – April 30, 2010
• Current Homeowners can receive $6500.00 credit (see link above for full details)

Ask a REALTOR® for more information on this topic.