The Issue: Ask your Senator to support the Dodd-Liberman-Isakson Amendment by extending the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit.
The Dodd-Lieberman-Isakson Amendment would: - Extend the tax credit to June 30, 2010. - Expand the credit by removing the first-time homebuyer requirement. - Raise the income limits to $150,000 ($300,000 for joint returns). - For purchases made in 2010, taxpayers are able to claim the credit on their 2009 income tax return. - Maintains that homebuyers do not have to repay the credit, provided the home remains their main residence for 36 months after the purchase date. - The 30-month recapture provision is waived for a member of the Armed Forces on active duty who has to move because of a military order.
Why it is needed: - The housing market remains fragile. * The market has improved and prices have stablized in many areas, but the market has not fully corrected. Retaining the credit sustains that recovery. - The tax credit has been effective. * NAR research suggests that as many as 355,000 sales this year can be directly attributed to the availability of the credit. * One prominent economist attributes 400,000 sales to the availability of the credit. - The tax credit stimulated market activity. * The volume of housing sales has improved steadily every month since the credit was enacted. * The credit pulled people from the sidelines and created some momentum that had been absent. - Home sales continue to stimulate economic activity. * The economy will never fully recover until housing markets fully recover. Thus, the stimulus the credit provides is still needed. NAR estimates that every sale generates approximately $60,000 of additional economic ativity. |