I have a question about claiming the extended home buyer tax credit. The IRS says that if the qualified home buyer has a binding written contract by April 30, 2010 and closes on the house by July 1, 2010, they can amend their 2009 return and apply the credit, or they can wait and take the credit on their 2010 return filed by April 15, 2011.
My question is if they haven?t closed on a house by April 15, 2010 wouldn?t they be better off just getting an extension? Assuming they meet the April 30 contract deadline and the July 1 closing deadline, their return could be filed electronically any time up to October 15 and they could get their money in a couple of weeks. Wouldn?t that be better than going through the lengthy amendment process? And if the deal falls through or they otherwise don?t qualify for the credit, they still have till October 15 to file.
Ed