Senate Approves up to $15,000 Credit for Home Buyers
Filed under: Home Buying, Legislative Issues
The Senate voted Wednesday night to give a tax break of up to %15,000 to homebuyers in hopes of revitalizing the housing industry. This is a big boost from the latest addition to the mammoth stimulus bill working its way through Congress.
The proposal would allow a tax credit for home buyers of 10 percent of the value of new or existing residences, up to a $15,000 limit. The current law provides for a $7,500 tax break but only for first-time homebuyers.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who advanced the homebuyers tax break, said it was intended to help revive the housing industry, which has virtually collapsed in the wake of a credit crisis that began last fall.
Isakson’s office said the proposal would cost the government an estimated $19 billion. In all, the stimulus is now topping an estimated $920 billion.
In an op-ed that appears in Thursday’s Washington Post, President Barack Obama painted a dire picture if Congress fails to move quickly to pass the stimulus bill.
“This recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse,” Obama wrote in the op-ed titled, “The Action Americans Need.”
Source: The Associated Press, David Espo (02/05/09)
