As most of you have heard by now, last Friday President Obama signed The Worker, Homeownership and Business Asssistance Act of 2009 (Tax Act). We recently blogged in support of legislation to extend and expand the homebuyer’s tax credit. Thankfully, both branches of Congress and The President recognized the importance of assisting the housing industry and passed the Tax Act.
Like most legislation, the devil is in the details- and we’re not sure all the details have yet surfaced. However, the National Association of REALTORS® has posted a comparison chart that shows the major differences compared to the 2008 First Time Homebuyers Credit. There’s also a FAQ sheet provided by NAR.
Other provisions of the Tax Act assist the unemployed and also businesses with tax cuts on business losses. Both provisions should also indirectly benefit the overall housing market – the extension of unemployment benefits help families pay mortgage bills or rent, plus hopefully helps with other debt to buffet credit scores; business tax cuts should help with job recovery.
We’ll be talking more about the Tax Act and the “devil” of the details in the coming days and weeks. For now though, Thank You to ALL legislators and our President for getting this bill passed!
