New Markets Tax Credits Story Has Some Oregon Details.

In Portland Business Journal , HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Report on California Housing Cost Containment Forums.

Nogradac has story, with link to report:

The California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) yesterday released ..[a summary report] of... comments on scoring, public policies, land costs and local requirements. TCAC plans to gather and analyze more data and will hold a public hearing in September on the subject. Tune in to the Tax Credit Tuesday podcast on August 30 to hear more.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Final Tax Credit Rule for FHA Multifamily Loans Coming Monday.

Advance copy available Friday HERE (look in Federal Register on Monday as this link will likely disappear then).

This rule conforms HUD’s Federal Housing Administration multifamily mortgage insurance regulations to a provision in Title VIII of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 that prohibits a requirement that tax credit sales proceeds be placed into escrow, at the time of initial endorsement, for assurance of project completion and to pay the initial service charge, carrying charges, and legal and organizational expenses incident to the construction of the project. This rule does not prohibit HUD from requiring escrows of funds for other purposes, such as for working capital. The rule also makes other changes to reduce burdens on the use of tax credits....A full discussion of section 2834(c) of HERA, the tax credit programs related to this rule, and the proposed rule can be found in the proposed rule at 74 FR 52354-52355.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Oregonian Story on Homebuyer Tax Credits: $130 Million So Far Pushes Homeownership Additional Cost During Recovery to WAY More than $244 Million.

Oregonian Front Porch story HERE.

IRS spokesperson says that 18,131 Oregon families have claimed $130 million so far; that works out to $7,162 per filing. (That's more than the annual cost of a HUD Housing Choice voucher).

Adding in $114 million from NSP and Hardest Hit funding this means that a starting point for home ownership related assistance in Oregon during the recovery so far is $244 million (and this does NOT include weatherization, cost of mortgage modifications, foregone tax revenue from debt forgiveness, foregone revenue from carry back losses, and the cost of Fannie, Freddie and FHA subsidies, etc).

Jobs Bill Approved in House Includes Tax Credit Exchange for 4% Deals.

Novogradac has story:

The House of Representatives today approved H.R. 4849, the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act, by a vote of 246-178. The bill includes tax relief for small businesses and financing measures to create jobs. Among other things, the bill would make tax-exempt bond-financed properties eligible for the Section 1602 low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) cash grant exchange program.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

It Ain't Just Homebuilders Cashing in on the 5 Year Loss Carryback.

I did a recent post HERE about large national home builders claiming 5 year loss carry backs as part of recent legislation.

Money Morning has story HERE, based on WSJ reporting, saying that:

1. Total revenue losses for the federal government for these tax breaks totals $33 BILLION;
2. Claims are coming from a variety of companies, including a possible $1.4 billion to JP Morgan Chase for their takeover of Washington Mutual. (This is occurring despite legislative intent to avoid use of the carry back provisions for companies receiving TARP funding).
   
3. A CBO analysis HERE, done prior to the passage of the legislation, indicated that this form of tax relief would have limited impact. As summarized in the Money Morning report:

The provision for greater tax-loss carry backs would result in a large up-front cost to the government, but the effect of that provision on business spending would probably be small because it primarily would affect firms’ after-tax income rather than their marginal incentives for new investment. Therefore, the effect of the provision on revenues would be significantly greater than its effect on the economy.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

IRS Documentation Required for Homeownership Tax Credits.

WaPo has story HERE.

(The IRS page for the home purchase tax credits is HERE)

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Tax Extender Bill Introduced in House Includes TCAP Extension.

Courtesy of Novogradac:

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., yesterday introduced H.R. 4213, the Tax Extenders Act of 2009. The Tax Extenders Act of 2009 would provide individuals and businesses with approximately $31 billion in tax relief in 2009 by extending, for one year through 2010, more than 40 provisions that are scheduled to expire at the end of 2009. The bill would extend for one year, through 2010, the tax credit exchange program, created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, that allows state housing agencies to elect to receive a payment in lieu of a portion of the state’s allocation of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs).

Additional Resources From Joint Tax Committee

JCX-60-09 (December 08, 2009)
Technical Explanation Of H.R. 4213, The “Tax Extenders Act Of 2009,[See PDF page 93 for TCAP explanation].

JCX-59-09 (December 07, 2009)
Estimated Revenue Effects Of H.R. 4213, The “Tax Extenders Act Of 2009” [Top of PDF page 4 shows a FY 2010 revenue loss of $4.4 Billion for TCAP extension, but increased revenue in years after FY 2010, presumably because long term costs are reduced via one time up front grant].

Homebuyer Tax Credit Nearing Final Congressional Approval.

AP news story HERE.

From Senate passed bill, the Homeownership tax credit section is at bottom of page 13 HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

CBPP: Thumbs Down to Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension.

Center for Budget and Policy Priorities analysis is HERE.

CBPP joins early Brooking analysis HERE.

Home Buyer exstension/expansion is an amendment to unemployment extender being considered by Senate (H.R. 3548).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension to Be Offered As Amendment to Unemployment Benefits Extender Bill.

UPI news story HERE.

HUD had been looking for a couple of weeks to analyze data before arriving at Administration position on home buyer tax credit, but looks like that time period will get compressed.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

UPDATED: Oregon/NW Claims Added-House Ways and Means: First Time HomeBuyer Tax Credt Abuse Hearing.

Update:
Table below is derived from page 71 in testimony and shows use of homebuyer tax credit in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington.

(14,000+ Oregon families claimed $101 million; per capita Idaho claims were about 50% higher than in Oregon).

State	Oregon	Idaho	Washington
Rank	43	8	37
Number of filers claiming FTHBC	14,248	8,525	26,604
Population	3,790,060	1,523,816	6,549,224
Claims per capita	0.38%	0.56%	0.41%
Total dollars claimed	$101,012,536	$61,971,426	$189,408,939
Dollars per capita	$27	$41	$29

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WSJ story about testimony at today's House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing on the administration of the first time home buyer tax credit program is HERE.

... the Treasury Department said that at least 19,000 filers who hadn't yet bought homes claimed $139 million in tax credits. Treasury officials said they have found another 74,000 tax-credit claims, worth $500 million, where evidence of prior homeownership could make their claims invalid.

I have consolidated all testimony into a single PDF file HERE. It includes proposed draft legislation from Rep. Lewis that attempts to correct the problems with the administration of the program.

C-SPAN Video of the entire one and a half hour hearing is available HERE

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Senate Hearing: Merkley Asks HUD's Donovan About Homeownership Tax Credit Instead of Mortgage Interest Deduction.

At Tuesday's hearing on the state of housing markets Oregon Senator Merkley asked whether the Administration supports use of a homeowner tax CREDIT (instead of the current non refundable DEDUCTION that does not benefit lower income homeowners).

Secretary Donovan reminds Merkely of Obama's support for that idea during the campaign last year and says he will work with Merkley on the idea. (NOTE: This kind of an ongoing tax credit is different than the current ONE time first time home buyer tax credit, although that credit IS a refundable credit where the family gets cash back if they have no net tax liability).

Check out exchange in YouTube video I constructed below:



(A direct URL to this question and answer exchange on YouTube is HERE).

If you want to watch the entire 2 hour, 50 Minute hearing it's in the C-SPAN library HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Ways and Means Subcommittee Hearing on Administration of Homebuyers Tax Credit this Thursday.

WSJ news story HERE says IRS is looking into more than 100,000 claims for the $8,000 home buyer tax credit and that a House Ways and Means Committee subcommittee hearing is scheduled for this Thursday.

Hearing web page is HERE, but no witness list or time for the hearing is yet shown.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Senate Hearing Tomorrow on State of Nation's Housing Market, Likely to Include Discussion of Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension.

Hearing is Tuesday, Oct 20@ 6:30 AM Pacific time; Hearing page is HERE.

NLIHC alert to hearing and summary about related home buyer's tax credit extension bill is HERE. (Note that Chair Dodd is co-chair of extension bill).

My bet is that NLIHC Board member testifying will refer to open letter [What WE Mean by Housing] signed by more than 1,000 organizations asking for a better balance between resources provided for home ownership vs resources provided to lower income households/renters.

That letter is HERE, and Oregon signatories currently appearing (pg 21) are:

Bienestar – Hillsboro, OR
CASA of Oregon – Newberg, OR
Community Housing Fund – Beaverton, OR
Community Partners for Affordable Housing – Tigard, OR
Housing Alliance – Portland, OR
Housing Authority of Washington County – Hillsboro, OR
Northwest Pilot Project – Portland, OR
Oregon Opportunity Network – Portland, OR
ROSE Community Development – Portland, OR
St. Joseph Homeless and Migrant Shelter – Mt. Angel, OR
William Temple House, Episcopal Mission Society - Portland, OR

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

State Homebuyer Tax Credit Programs Link Includes Idaho Program.

The National Council of State Housing Agencies has established a website listing state programs that provide loans to monetize the federal $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit.

Link is HERE; and is permanently listed in right pane as State Homebuyer Tax Credit Programs.

(Idaho appears to be the only NW state with such a program).