Weddingbee boards

If you have closed or are closing on your first time and plan to take advantage of the first time homebuyer credit, here's my advice:  do NOT file an amended tax return seeking the credit.  Instead, include it in your 2009 return, even if you need to request an extension of time to file the 2009 return.

We filed an amended return for 2008 in early September (closed on our house at the end of July).  Never heard anything from IRS.  I followed up no less than 10 times by phone and we were ultimately assigned a tax advocate.  We were never questioned or challenged about our request....instead, we just got lost in the shuffle.  We are now scheduled to receive our credit (with interest) in early April - 7 months after filing the amended return.  Our situation was apparently NOT the norm (I know people who filed around the same time as us and it took about 3 months to get the credit) but if you file an amended return, they will take much much longer to process.

Hey, it's free money anyways, so we should just be thankful/happy.  But still, thought I would pass on the advice!

That's good to know!  I haven't submitted our taxes yet but I've been debating on whether to claim it this year or next year.  We just closed 2 weeks ago but I'm not really sure what papers the IRS will need as proof that we actually bought a house.  Our taxes are completely done otherwise.  It's actually kind of tempting to just hit submit and deal with it later!

@Caitlanc, if you go to IRS site it will tell you exactly what you need to send in. I can't tell you for sure bc we built our home and had to wait until construction was complete and construction loans are different than when you buy and close on a home. Our accountant said the same thing. We were going to ammend but since we got married and then built the home and then...they extended it again, when we finally took possession of constructed home, we had to wait for the new updated forms which took the IRS 2 mths to get out it made better sense to wait and do it all at once. I know people who filed back in the fall who have not received theirs yet, but they are being very careful bc when this first came out there was a lot of fraud bc they did not ask for near the amount of forms they do now. Definetly need some patience with it! Thats awesome you are getting interest too! Still waiting to here from our accountant if he did it ok.....:(

Pinkmonkee does bring up a good point I forgot to mention. If there is anything wrong, I mean even a number, they will decline and send it back and you have to start all over from the beginning. Meaning you start from the back of the line again. My SIL did not send in the right settlement statement and they did not know for about 3 mths that it was the wrong one until they called and followed up and was told it was declined and had to redo it all over again. They don't hold your place!

That is true about the denial and if they have questions it could take longer...the weird thing is they didn't have any questions or challenges to ours....it just took inexplicably long!

The best thing to do is call the number on the IRS website - you have to go through the automated system/inquiry about your refund.  Then it will transfer you to customer service b/c it's actually not a refund, but a credit.  They don't want you to call at all until it's been 12-16 weeks.  After 16 weeks they would make a system inquiry and send it to claims and I should call back in a month.  After 20 weeks they told me they would assign me an advocate who would call me.  The advocate never called so then after 22 weeks they gave me an advocate number.  After 24 weeks the advocate said she would call back in a week with an update.  At 28 weeks the advocate said the check was pending and she gave me the date it would send out.

I think a lot of it has to do with the timing of when you send in the return.  My friend sent hers in in August and got her credit w/in three months.  I sent mine in in September, and see above. 

I am going to happily spend my 300 in interest on something fun to compensate for the headache : ) 

I have been told by the IRS that as of August/September it started taking long as many more people were filing for the credit...I think it used to take much less time!

Ooh!  Good to know, Lillindy!  Thanks!  I really need to quit procrastinating!  And I even have my settlement statement in my car!  I could totally finish them off right now if only I wasn't at work!  Boo.  Thanks for all the info!

It took nearly 7 months but we finally got our check!  Better late than never : )

FYI just saw a post above about filing electronically and it caught my attention. For the first time home buyer credit you CANNOT file electronically, so I am not sure if that is specific to this credit. This is per the IRS website, person I spoke with and many accountants.