Life is a Journey, Why Not Share it?

If you have not yet filed your taxes this year, you may be interested to know about a new program being offered by the IRS. If you purchased a new home in 2008, you may be eligible to get back up to an additional $7,500 on your taxes. There are some details on how the amount is calculated, but basically, if your home is worth $150,000 dollars or more, then you should qualify for the maximum benefit.

Now, what you need to know is that this money is a loan… It is an interest free loan being extended to new home owners who purchased their homes in 2008, and will also be extended to those who buy a home in 2009. The loan is interest free, and is paid back over the course of 15 years. So the $7,500 you get back from the IRS will be paid back at a rate of $500 per year for 15 years.

This is a great opportunity if you spend the money wisely. You can use it to pay down debt (especially high interest credit cards), or you can use it to renovate your home. You can even just put it in a savings account or better yet, max out an IRA where your interest free loan will EARN interest FOR YOU! And that’s like getting free money.

In my opinion the smartest choice is always to pay off any credit card debt you may have. That alone will create huge savings for you.

Finally, there is one more catch about this year’s new program… If you sell your home before 15 years, you will have to pay the remaining balance in one lump sum. Which hopefully, will be easy to do if you are selling your home. Either way, this is a great opportunity for the wise investor and is well worth the time to look further into it.