Eli Posted April 21, 2009 Report Posted April 21, 2009 Been getting lots of calls regarding the 7500 & 8000 credit for 1st time homebuyers. It seems some tax preparers are amending tax returns for 2008 to claim the credit for even those who do not qualify. One of my co-workers called to ask about it because his cousin received a check for the 7500 credit. He called the preparer that was amending returns and asked if he would qualify since he refinanced his home of 8 years. He was told that he qualified since refinancing would be like a brand new purchase. I think I need to change preparers :-) Have you heard any such stories with that credit going around? Eli Quote
JohnH Posted April 21, 2009 Report Posted April 21, 2009 Wow, next thing you know there will be preparers out there encouraging people to claim EIC's they aren't entitled to... Quote
David1980 Posted April 21, 2009 Report Posted April 21, 2009 Wow, next thing you know there will be preparers out there encouraging people to claim EIC's they aren't entitled to... Exactly. A refundable $8000 credit is for sure going to get abused, just as much as EIC does (perhaps more?) As a taxpayer I sure hope the IRS audits a ton of those first time homebuyer credits. Quote
Eli Posted April 21, 2009 Author Report Posted April 21, 2009 Exactly. A refundable $8000 credit is for sure going to get abused, just as much as EIC does (perhaps more?) As a taxpayer I sure hope the IRS audits a ton of those first time homebuyer credits. I spoke to a fellow preparer yesterday. She said she was allowing taxpayers to obtain the credit simply by them promising to buy a home before Nov 30, 2009. She stated the IRS told her this would be ok. According to her they (IRS) said it wouldn't be her fault if the taxpayer lied to her. I was under the belief that the home had to have already been purchased in order to qualify for the credit. Eli Quote
JohnH Posted April 21, 2009 Report Posted April 21, 2009 Ask her if she wants to stay in business long term, or if the prospect of being in trouble with the IRS for years to come seems especially appealing to her. I wouldn't prepare a return like that even if I had in in WRITING from the IRS that it was OK to do so, which I'll guarantee you she doesn't have and can't get. Quote
David1980 Posted April 21, 2009 Report Posted April 21, 2009 I spoke to a fellow preparer yesterday. She said she was allowing taxpayers to obtain the credit simply by them promising to buy a home before Nov 30, 2009. She stated the IRS told her this would be ok. According to her they (IRS) said it wouldn't be her fault if the taxpayer lied to her. I was under the belief that the home had to have already been purchased in order to qualify for the credit. Eli Makes you wonder what she enters for the address on the 5405, since they obviously don't have a new address yet. If she's using the same as the 1040 address, that's a huge red flag. I mean you have this address that hasn't changed for a few years and all of a sudden it shows up on a first time homebuyer form as a new home for you? Possible, I mean maybe you rented the home and then bought it in 2009. Unlikely though - and I'm hoping all of the clients get a nice audit on that. Unfortunately there has always been people like that, people who will take bogus deductions and preparer fraudulent returns. The risks are generally known, but people either don't think it'll ever happen to them or they don't care, so long as they get the money they make today they'll find some new job in the future. Quote
kcjenkins Posted April 21, 2009 Report Posted April 21, 2009 That is a BIG prize out there, $8,000 extra refund, just for filing one form. It's clear that some preparers are crooks anyway, so it's not surprising that they would jump on this one. Quote
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