[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]I think you are confused, i was single at the time of purchase and she was single at the time of my purchase, we still live seperately and will do so for three years. Therefore, why would we have to pay either of the credits back as we were both single at the time and we currently still live in the houses we bought. The only change is we are married by law.

Thanks[/quote]

I’m going to retract part of what i said before. Though the instructions are a little bit murky, because they don’t address your situation exactly, it appears that if you actually do live apart for 3 years after the purchases, you might be able to keep both credits. I say this because it seems that even though the purchases were both in 2009, by filing the 2008 amended returns, it becomes a 2008 credit, as opposed to an early payment of a 2009 credit. So your tax status, for both of you, and for both the time you made the purchases and for your 2008 filings, were accurate as single taxpayers.

Providing that you continue to live apart AND can prove that you live apart, might be the only hurdle. Filing separate returns with different addresses might help that.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]I think you are confused, i was single at the time of purchase and she was single at the time of my purchase, we still live seperately and will do so for three years. Therefore, why would we have to pay either of the credits back as we were both single at the time and we currently still live in the houses we bought. The only change is we are married by law.

Thanks[/quote]

I’m going to retract part of what i said before. Though the instructions are a little bit murky, because they don’t address your situation exactly, it appears that if you actually do live apart for 3 years after the purchases, you might be able to keep both credits. I say this because it seems that even though the purchases were both in 2009, by filing the 2008 amended returns, it becomes a 2008 credit, as opposed to an early payment of a 2009 credit. So your tax status, for both of you, and for both the time you made the purchases and for your 2008 filings, were accurate as single taxpayers.

Providing that you continue to live apart AND can prove that you live apart, might be the only hurdle. Filing separate returns with different addresses might help that.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]I think you are confused, i was single at the time of purchase and she was single at the time of my purchase, we still live seperately and will do so for three years. Therefore, why would we have to pay either of the credits back as we were both single at the time and we currently still live in the houses we bought. The only change is we are married by law.

Thanks[/quote]

I’m going to retract part of what i said before. Though the instructions are a little bit murky, because they don’t address your situation exactly, it appears that if you actually do live apart for 3 years after the purchases, you might be able to keep both credits. I say this because it seems that even though the purchases were both in 2009, by filing the 2008 amended returns, it becomes a 2008 credit, as opposed to an early payment of a 2009 credit. So your tax status, for both of you, and for both the time you made the purchases and for your 2008 filings, were accurate as single taxpayers.

Providing that you continue to live apart AND can prove that you live apart, might be the only hurdle. Filing separate returns with different addresses might help that.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]I think you are confused, i was single at the time of purchase and she was single at the time of my purchase, we still live seperately and will do so for three years. Therefore, why would we have to pay either of the credits back as we were both single at the time and we currently still live in the houses we bought. The only change is we are married by law.

Thanks[/quote]

I’m going to retract part of what i said before. Though the instructions are a little bit murky, because they don’t address your situation exactly, it appears that if you actually do live apart for 3 years after the purchases, you might be able to keep both credits. I say this because it seems that even though the purchases were both in 2009, by filing the 2008 amended returns, it becomes a 2008 credit, as opposed to an early payment of a 2009 credit. So your tax status, for both of you, and for both the time you made the purchases and for your 2008 filings, were accurate as single taxpayers.

Providing that you continue to live apart AND can prove that you live apart, might be the only hurdle. Filing separate returns with different addresses might help that.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]I think you are confused, i was single at the time of purchase and she was single at the time of my purchase, we still live seperately and will do so for three years. Therefore, why would we have to pay either of the credits back as we were both single at the time and we currently still live in the houses we bought. The only change is we are married by law.

Thanks[/quote]

Under those circumstances, had you waited to get married until January of this year, you each would have qualified for the credit. See comment above as to why you don’t. (Yeah, its not fair.)

Sorry, but i gotta ask. Why did you get married if you’re planning on living apart for the next 3 years? If it’s only a scam for the credit, I doubt it can possibly be worth it unless neither house will rent for so little that $8,000 in hand is better than the rent.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]I think you are confused, i was single at the time of purchase and she was single at the time of my purchase, we still live seperately and will do so for three years. Therefore, why would we have to pay either of the credits back as we were both single at the time and we currently still live in the houses we bought. The only change is we are married by law.

Thanks[/quote]

Under those circumstances, had you waited to get married until January of this year, you each would have qualified for the credit. See comment above as to why you don’t. (Yeah, its not fair.)

Sorry, but i gotta ask. Why did you get married if you’re planning on living apart for the next 3 years? If it’s only a scam for the credit, I doubt it can possibly be worth it unless neither house will rent for so little that $8,000 in hand is better than the rent.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]I think you are confused, i was single at the time of purchase and she was single at the time of my purchase, we still live seperately and will do so for three years. Therefore, why would we have to pay either of the credits back as we were both single at the time and we currently still live in the houses we bought. The only change is we are married by law.

Thanks[/quote]

Under those circumstances, had you waited to get married until January of this year, you each would have qualified for the credit. See comment above as to why you don’t. (Yeah, its not fair.)

Sorry, but i gotta ask. Why did you get married if you’re planning on living apart for the next 3 years? If it’s only a scam for the credit, I doubt it can possibly be worth it unless neither house will rent for so little that $8,000 in hand is better than the rent.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]I think you are confused, i was single at the time of purchase and she was single at the time of my purchase, we still live seperately and will do so for three years. Therefore, why would we have to pay either of the credits back as we were both single at the time and we currently still live in the houses we bought. The only change is we are married by law.

Thanks[/quote]

Under those circumstances, had you waited to get married until January of this year, you each would have qualified for the credit. See comment above as to why you don’t. (Yeah, its not fair.)

Sorry, but i gotta ask. Why did you get married if you’re planning on living apart for the next 3 years? If it’s only a scam for the credit, I doubt it can possibly be worth it unless neither house will rent for so little that $8,000 in hand is better than the rent.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]I think you are confused, i was single at the time of purchase and she was single at the time of my purchase, we still live seperately and will do so for three years. Therefore, why would we have to pay either of the credits back as we were both single at the time and we currently still live in the houses we bought. The only change is we are married by law.

Thanks[/quote]

Under those circumstances, had you waited to get married until January of this year, you each would have qualified for the credit. See comment above as to why you don’t. (Yeah, its not fair.)

Sorry, but i gotta ask. Why did you get married if you’re planning on living apart for the next 3 years? If it’s only a scam for the credit, I doubt it can possibly be worth it unless neither house will rent for so little that $8,000 in hand is better than the rent.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]When we bought the houses we were and we have kept everything seperate so technically i guess you could say she is living seperately. Im just trying to figure out if we can file married filing seperately and not have to pay the 8k back…[/quote]

The credit for married filing separately is reduced to $4,000 on each return.

Also, in order to keep the credit, the homes must remain primary residences for 36 months.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]When we bought the houses we were and we have kept everything seperate so technically i guess you could say she is living seperately. Im just trying to figure out if we can file married filing seperately and not have to pay the 8k back…[/quote]

The credit for married filing separately is reduced to $4,000 on each return.

Also, in order to keep the credit, the homes must remain primary residences for 36 months.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]When we bought the houses we were and we have kept everything seperate so technically i guess you could say she is living seperately. Im just trying to figure out if we can file married filing seperately and not have to pay the 8k back…[/quote]

The credit for married filing separately is reduced to $4,000 on each return.

Also, in order to keep the credit, the homes must remain primary residences for 36 months.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]When we bought the houses we were and we have kept everything seperate so technically i guess you could say she is living seperately. Im just trying to figure out if we can file married filing seperately and not have to pay the 8k back…[/quote]

The credit for married filing separately is reduced to $4,000 on each return.

Also, in order to keep the credit, the homes must remain primary residences for 36 months.

[SK in CV]

[quote=itsj0nathan]When we bought the houses we were and we have kept everything seperate so technically i guess you could say she is living seperately. Im just trying to figure out if we can file married filing seperately and not have to pay the 8k back…[/quote]

The credit for married filing separately is reduced to $4,000 on each return.

Also, in order to keep the credit, the homes must remain primary residences for 36 months.

[SK in CV]

The $8K you each got was an advance payment on the credit, subject to you both fulfilling all the requirements. One of them will have to be paid back. For a number of reasons. Previous comment addresses one of them, the home has to be owner occupied, so at least one of the homes doesn’t qualify. Also, on a joint return, both spouses have to qualify, and the 2nd purchase wouldn’t qualify for the new homeowner credit since your wife previously owned a home, even if just for a few months.

Since you both amended the previous years returns, the proper way to fix it would be to recapture the 2nd credit (assuming the 1st home is the one you’re now occupying) on your ’09 return. If you’re occupying the home purchased 2nd, it might get a little dicey. Since it qualified when you purchased it, I suspect the credit will stand and the 1st credit should be recaptured. Where it gets dicey is that the law says that both spouses have to qualify, since she previously owned a home, neither of you qualify. But since you weren’t married at the time of either purchase, you’re probably OK.

Or, you could ignore it on your ’09 return and see if they catch it. 25 years ago, that might have been a pretty good bet. The IRS had few mechanisms to follow that kind of stuff. But over the years, they’ve got much better at it. Penalties and interest would apply. Pretty high risk.

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