Home Buyer Tax Credit: Filing Guidance

Home buyers wanting to take the newly improved home buyer tax credit have to wait until they complete the purchase and close or, in the case of new construction, take up residence to claim the credit, the IRS says in newly released filing guidance . For households who won't close before the filing deadline, the guidance provides four options: 1) file an extension, 2) file now, amend later, 3) amend the 2008 tax return, or 4) claim the credit in 2009 rather than 2008, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® said.