first time homebuyers tax credit

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What is this MCC?

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Mortgage Credit Certificate

if you have the opportunity to get this, do it

you get 25% of the interest paid back on your mortgage each year

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You should be able to deduct interest paid and that should help.

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That didn't move my federal amount any! The only thing that helped was the student loan interest. I filed married jointly and had to owe 200 dollars. Tried married separately, I don't owe anything but get back 700 dollars. WTF?

Does anybody know what this community property thing is?

You can only get it with the purchase of the home, and it sounds like you have already done that.

My mortgage broker told me about it before we got our house.

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That didn't move my federal amount any! The only thing that helped was the student loan interest. I filed married jointly and had to owe 200 dollars. Tried married separately, I don't owe anything but get back 700 dollars. WTF?

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My guess is that your mortgage interest isn't enough to push you over the standard deduction for MFJ, but is for MFS. One thing to make sure you factor in before going with MFS is that if one spouse itemizes, then both must itemize. I'm guessing the other half of the MFS return will owe over $900.

not that i've heard


i closed on my first house about a week after that big stimulus was signed


thats when the credit switched from a 7500 dollar credit that had to be repaid....to an 8000 dollar credit that required no repayment

it was definitely a good year to do my taxes

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That didn't move my federal amount any! The only thing that helped was the student loan interest. I filed married jointly and had to owe 200 dollars. Tried married separately, I don't owe anything but get back 700 dollars. WTF?

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If you file Married Filing Separately, either both individuals have to itemize or both take the standard deduction. You can't have one spouse itemize and have one spouse take the standard deduction. Assuming that your wife has a job and earns money, filing Married Filing Jointly will put both of you a higher tax bracket (more than likely).

The only way your mortgage interest didn't change your federal tax liability is if you didn't pay enough interest to surpass the standard deduction. Student loan interest is an above the line deduction, therefore, you do not need to itemize to take it. You can take the standard deduction and still deduct student loan interest.

Maybe I'm high on espresso, but I thought I received a credit for $15k? Maybe that's how big my return was that year with the credit.