Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 | St Louis Real Estate Voice

St. Louis Mortgage News – Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008

On July 30, 2008, President Bush signed into law the “Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008” (the Housing Act). It includes a $15.1 billion package of housing tax incentives.

Here are the highlights of the bill for homeowners and first time home buyers.by Chris Scheer, Cornerstone Mortgage, O’Fallon, MO

Part One

Property Tax Deductions for Non-Itemizers

The Housing Act created a new, temporary property tax deduction for non-itemizers (i.e., for taxpayers who claim the standard deduction rather than itemizing their deductions).

Highlights include:

• The provision creates a new standard deduction for state and local real property taxes paid by non-itemizers. Since most homeowners who are paying on a mortgage have enough deductions (e.g., mortgage interest and property taxes) to justify itemizing them on their return, this new provision chiefly benefits homeowners who have paid off their homes.

• The deduction is currently only available for tax years that begin in 2008.

• The amount of deduction will be as much as $500 for single filers and $1,000 for joint filers. Since this is a deduction and not a credit (i.e., a dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax liability) the actual tax benefit will not be all that substantial. For example, it only proves a maximum of $100 to a couple in the ten percent tax bracket and $150 to a couple in the fifteen percent bracket (and only $50 and $75, respectively, to singles in those brackets). Granted, in this economy every little bit helps.

Part Two

Credit for First-Time Homebuyers (to be continued)

Chris Scheer can be reached at chrisscheer@stlouisrealestatevoice.com

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 9:32 pm and is filed under First Time Home Buyer, For Buyers, Mortgage News, Relocation Buyer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.