Thursday, March 19
Posted 11 a.m. EDT
Attention e-filing, first-home buying taxpayers. The IRS says it will accept electronic versions of Form 5405 beginning Monday, March 30.
This is the form you must send in with your tax return if you claim the $7,500 or $8,000 tax credit for buying your first home.
Yes, it's one form for two different amounts. As detailed in the tax tip "First home, new tax break," the new stimulus package, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, expanded upon this credit that was created last year.
In its first incarnation, folks who bought their first homes between April 9, 2008, and on or before Dec. 31, 2008, get a $7,500 "credit." But it's not really a credit (hence the quotation marks). The $7,500 must be paid back on subsequent tax returns over 15 years. So it's more a misnamed interest-free loan.
But under the new stimulus law, the tax-break amount increases to $8,000 and it is really a tax credit. No payback is necessary for eligible taxpayers who buy their first home between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30 of this year.
And both types of first-home purchasers need to file Form 5405 to claim their appropriate amount. Since the IRS decided to let folks who bought or buy their tax-credit eligible home in 2009 claim the $8,000 tax break on their 2008 returns instead of waiting a year, the agency had to make some form tweaks to get it e-filing ready.
Well, dear Bankrate readers who've been asking via, fittingly, e-mail (and those of you just wondering but not writing), your wait will be over March 30. Your tax preparation software provider should have the updated Form 5405 incorporated in its package by then. Be sure to check for updates.
The new form also will be available from providers at the IRS's own Free File site.
In-person IRS help: If you want some help filling out your Form 5405 and the rest of your tax return, you might be able to get it Saturday, March 21.
In what it's dubbing "Super Saturday," the IRS will open its Taxpayer Assistance Centers and help folks fill out their returns. The centers usually aren't open on weekends, but for this one day they will be staffed from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time.
In addition, more than 1,000 locations operated by IRS partners, such as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, or the VITA program, also will be participating in Super Saturday.
You can find the Taxpayer Assistance Center or other help location nearest you, as well as its March 21 operating hours in case your office is deviating from the basic 9-to-2 plan, at the IRS's special Super Saturday Web page.
There's just one catch. To get the free tax return help, you must make less than $42,000.
However, if you have other, non-return related tax questions for IRS personnel, there is no income limit. So come on down on Saturday, too!