With the recent talk of raising the first-time homebuyer credit, one important question is still open: why are the current checks taking so long to go through? No one expects the tax credit to be instantaneous, and of course the IRS will need to validate each claim. But reports of delayed tax credits are pouring in — and when the tax credit is a key part of financing a new home, this has people nervous.
- One online commenter complained of a 12-week wait for the check, which hadn’t arrived yet.
- Other commenters are asking when the check will arrive — the answers indicate that it takes ten to twelve weeks, but there’s lots of confusion nonetheless.
- Other estimates for how long the credit takes imply a wait of 12-16 weeks.
- Some people are even less lucky. One of them had to wait fourteen weeks — to find out that he needed to send the IRS more information.
Some people are in no mood to wait for the check. Several states have found a way around this: HUD is starting to lend people money backed by the tax credits, for certain mortgages. And several states have taken matters into their own hands: here is a list of states that lend new homeowners money to tide them over until the tax credit arrives. For many new home buyers, this can be a good way to stay afloat, but in most cases, it’s best not to rely on that tax credit as the only way to close a new home purchase.
I filed 09 taxes with home buyer tax credit.I mailed the hud-1 form like I was asked.I just looked at the where is my refund site and it says aditional info required and I will get a leter in the mail.What aditional ionfo could they need?
I filed my 2008 amended return for the housing credit in October, recd by IRS 10/26/2009. In January, I sent my HUD, mortgage invoice, recent bank statments & pay stub with my name and address for the auditors which they received on January 30th. I was told 60 days to make a determination. Mid February, I got a letter saying that they had 30 days to make a determination. I called today and was told it’s been pushed back to 90 days. I really don’t think that they have the money to pay everyone and are buying time. How can it take 90 days to look at 4 documents that prove what they want to know??? I tried calling the Advocate help line and there is a recording that tells you not to even bother checking on the tax credit until your return has been at the IRS for 4 months!! Of course, what can you do? No one’s talking about it on the news – not even Fox! We are at the mercy of the government – land of the free my rear!!
The IRS recvd my amended 2008 return in October 2009- I settled on my house in July and filed immediatley. So I don’t know why it wasn’t recv’d til October, but anyways. I read each and every previous post, and I am in the same boat as everyone else. Wondering why there is NO MEDIA ATTENTION BEING BROUGHT TO THE FACT THAT NO ONE HAS GOTTEN A CHECK!!!!! I have jumped through all the hoops they asked. After not getting anything in the mail, I called and was told you have to wait your 16 weeks, it’s in examination and they are real busy, please be patient. There is no excuse for processing to take 16 weeks let alone longer. To be asked to wait patient at that point was a slap in the face. Now here we are in March 2010. I will be in my house almost a year! Well, after my 16 weeks came and went (after the october date they gave me of recieving it) they tell me they will send an “inquiry” to the exams department to see what the status is, and thay I must wait 30 more days, but they will surely contact me to give me an update. Not a promise of a check, but atleast an update of what is going on. So I waited….and waited…. and waited….. and my 30 days has come and gone, and still nothing. So I call back and get a man who tells me, well I see you’ve taken all the neccessary steps and we have not come through for you… so I will refer you to the advocates office… they must contact you within 7 days. Then he asked me if I am in financial hardship. Hmmmm…. well…… I purchased a home, with the promise of an $8000 credit that didn’t stipulate you would get only if you were in hardship…. but if you look at the big picture, since our purchase I have lost my job, my husband is the only one paying on our new mortgage, and things a very tight, and I consider that a hardship… but they don’t. Since we aren’t on a forclosure brink. This whole thing is a bunch of bull- ish! We bought the house, stimulated the economy, bought all new things to go in our home- by far I’ve done my part- Please give me some light, if anyone has got their refund, please let us know….. and the details on how to get it! Ha-
I’ve posted a few times here…I filed in October…after multiple calls
and finally a tax advocate, I received a letter on Feb 25th stating refund will
be sent in 6-8 weeks. If this rings true, this will put me at just over 6 months.
Though I was frustrated, I was never rude to the some times rude Irs reps.
What would be the point…I did however keep notes of names and ID#’s and the dates
of when I called…time consuming, yes…but I had run out of patience after 3 months of waiting.
Regardless of if you need the rufund now or not, it should not take more than 2-3 months for processing. Buying a home is public record, even without supporting docs, they can google a person’s name and see that they bought a home. Good luck everyone.
Update from March 1st: The IRS website “Where’s my refund” area finally noted this morning that my taxes have been received and, unless they find any problems with the filing, I should receive my refund by April 6th. My husband and I are hoping we over paid: on the $6,000 we withdrew from our IRA (as you can do for first time home purchase) we were taxed about $3000. We had been told by our CPA that it would be only about 10 – 20%, not 50%!