Congress Passes Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension till September 30, 2010
Tax credit processing extension till September 30, 2010
The Congress has passed H.R. 5623, the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act, which extends the tax credit closing deadline until September 30th. There will also be no gap between June 30th and the date the President signs the bill into law. The extension only applies to transactions in which the purchase contract was signed by April 30th. Please note this bill is pending the President’s signature.
Congress has been trying to pass the extension for the last month, but it was done as an amendment to a much larger bill for job benefits with a big price tag. Only when it was separated from this larger jobs bill did deficit-wary lawmakers sign off on it. The extension will lower the deficit by $9 million over a decade since it is offset by certain other provisions.
An estimated 200,000 people have missed out on the tax credit because they wouldn’t have been able to close by the end of business Wednesday. Many are trying to take advantage of short sales, which are complicated deals to complete.
