First Time Home Buyer Tax Rebate: How Long Does It Take To Receive Check
Buying a home for the first time can be an overwhelming experience. The dream of owning a home is one that almost every American strives for and now more than ever are first time home buyers trying to get into their first house. The reason is that Obama administration had created one of the best first time home buyer programs ever. The stimulus package that Obama signed into laws earlier this year created a rebate program for first time home buyers that gives up to $8,000 to qualified home buyers that close before November 30, 2009.
Although many first time home buyers have already taken advantage of this program, there are still some that have questions about it and people want to know more about the first time home buyer tax rebate, and how long does it take to receive a check. This question was sent to us from one of the readers and we felt that with some much talk going on right now about the first time home buyer tax rebate that we could share some insights on the process and how long it would take to receive a check from the government.
First Time Home Buyer Tax Rebate: How long does it take to receive a check?
- First, the home has to close escrow. The only way to get the first time home buyer rebate check is to have bought a house, and close on it before November 31, 2009. A person cannot receive the tax rebate check, or request for a check without first closing on the house. This means that even if the house is in escrow, the money cannot be processed until the house has actually turned hands and the person who is going to request for the funds is the primary owner of the house and the house is the primary residence for the individual.
- Second, a person that does close escrow and is qualified to receive the tax rebate check, based on the income and logistic guidelines provided by the government, has two choices on how they can receive the money. They could either claim the tax rebate on their 2009 return, which would mean waiting to the new year and filing the paperwork with the 2009 tax information, or they can amend their 2008 return to include this rebate and they could get the money sooner. I think the second option is the that many people would like, as they can get the money sooner. This means that if a person closes on a house today, they can have their 2008 taxes amended quickly with all information filled in properly, and could have a check as soon as 4 weeks. The quickest we’ve seen processed took about 4 weeks, and we also seem some take as long as 12 weeks. There is not exact date or time for them to process the tax rebate check and it would depend on the quantity of apps that they are going through at any given time, the thoroughness of the paperwork when it is turned it, and location of the buyer that the mail would be processed too. All of these things would factor into when the check would arrive, but if a person was on top of it and did all things that they are suppose to do, they would get their first time home buyer tax rebate check within about a month, but could take up to 3 months if the paperwork and process is stalled because of incomplete paperwork or delays in sending it in.
The money will come. Although we’ve heard some frustrations from people that are waiting for their tax rebate checks, other people that were qualified and did fill out the paperwork properly have received their checks so it’s just a matter of time and it will get there. The best case scenarios would take about 4 weeks, but in the worst of cases it could take as long as 12 weeks to get it. Don’t get discouraged if you are waiting for the tax rebate, or not sure if you should fill it out for this year or next. The first time home buyer tax rebate is a good program and one that will help many Americans realize their dream of owning a home.
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Mine is going on 7 months now…Faxed over 9x a ton of paperwork requesting proof of ownership…NOTHING..
I received a letter in November saying it was in my account, guess what NOT!! Then they call as I am being wheeled into major surgery…she is telling me it is in the mail i was on speaker phone so the nurses and surgeons all heard this…still…NOTHING. I have had to pay property taxes and if I was late on them I would be penalized..and of course interest up the you know what!! WHY?? I have been patient, I have done EVERYTHING they have asked and all they do is postpone, avoid calls and lie.. One lady said well, if it makes you feel any better there is about 65,000 more people out there in the same boat as you!! Think of the interest the government is pulling in..
just wondering how long does it take to get your refund once everything has been approved?? they (IRS) is telling me my refund status says “pending” on my refund….what exactly does that mean because they cant explain that that well??
my update… I now have a tax advocate. I needed to send some additional documentation, which I faxed over last week. She told me this should be cleared up by Mid February. She had my file in front of her, including all the previous documentation that was sent. She was confident that with the additional documentation my file should be moved along and the check issued. This was not anything the IRS has requested. Just what she, as the tax advocate, suggested to help move this along. She was very nice and professional. I have my fingers crossed……
We had a tax advocate. She was totally useless, of course she works for the irs. She didn’t read our information or listen to us. My husband had to say Stop, Stop, Stop Talking and listen to me when he was on the phone with her. We now have contacted our Congressman. The man there says he has been able to help 90% of the people who have come to him. He read over our info and wrote and faxed a letter to the irs within 4 hrs of speaking to us. Will keep you updated. We also have our fingers crossed but we also thought our problem was solved with the tax advocate. She told us she went above and beyond her duties. Bull!!
well in our case the tax advocate has done her job well. I talked to her this week and our case has been approved and she will call back next week to let us know when to expect payment. We did not need to resend any info that we had previously submitted, and the one piece of extra info we did send was her suggestion and it did the trick. So our experience has been a good one. It should be that way for all…
Part of our return is being applied toward our 2010 taxes as we pay quarterly estimates. I wonder if that helped….
Our tax advocate called today to advise our check will be mailed on Friday. It has taken 8 months since the filing. In this case our advocate did her job. She listened, asked the right questions and advised us what to send to help the process and it has all worked. Took 8 months, but it is finally getting resolved without further resending of info, without having to send extra documents to verify we live where we say we live, etc. I wish it had gone this way for others (other than taking way, way longer than it was supposed to)
Good luck to those still waiting.
It really shouldn’t take much longer than the time it takes to get a regular IRS refund. I think when we purchased our home about 6 years ago we got it with in 6 weeks or so. Hope this helps and good luck with your new home.
Corey Fischer - Owner & CTO