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nguard · Sep 3, 2009, 06:36 AM

MY fiancé and I are looking to purchase a home prior to dec1 2009. We are interested in the 8k credit, however... I currently own a home, my fiancé does not. We are intending to put the new home in her name only... Our current wedding is Nov 28... if we close before the wedding will she be entitled to the full credit? I've read that spouses can be excluded from the credit as the IRS considers both spouses home ownership history... thank you

MukatA · Sep 4, 2009, 05:30 AM

If you get married in 2009, then she can not get credit on 2009 tax return.
She can file 2008 amended tax return to claim the credit if she purchases before marriage.

AtlantaTaxExpert · Sep 4, 2009, 05:45 AM

The option to amend the 2008 return to get a credit is available ONLY IF the purchase is complete by 1 July 2009.

I disagree with the other part: she CAN claim the credit based on her home ownership history on the 2009 tax return, but the credit will be for ONOY $4,000.

MukatA · Sep 4, 2009, 09:59 AM

This is from the IRS web site First-Time Homebuyer Credit: Scenarios
S1. If a single person (Taxpayer A) qualifies as a first-time homebuyer at the time he/she purchases a home with someone (Taxpayer B) that is not a first-time homebuyer and then later that year they marry each other, is the credit still allowed?

A. Eligibility for the first-time homebuyer credit is determined on the date of purchase. If Taxpayer A, a first-time homebuyer, buys a house and then later that year marries Taxpayer B, not a first-time homebuyer, the credit is allowable to Taxpayer A. Taxpayer A may take the maximum credit.

AtlantaTaxExpert · Sep 5, 2009, 09:00 AM

That is not the relevant question; the Q/A below is, which requires that I change my position and state that the OP cannot claim the credit if they are married when the purchase is made:

S4. If husband and wife wanted to sell the home that the wife owned when they got married, and the husband had not owned a home within the past three years, could he qualify as a first-time homebuyer for the credit even though the wife would not qualify?

A. No. The purchase date determines whether a taxpayer is a first-time homebuyer. Since the wife had ownership interest in a principal residence within the prior three years, neither taxpayer may take the first-time homebuyer credit. Section 36(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code requires that the taxpayer and the taxpayer's spouse not have an ownership interest in a principal residence within the prior three years from the date of purchase. The husband may not take the credit even if he filed on a separate return.