U.S. President Obama and some people (joking)
President Obama's $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers, is being abused according to published reports. Thus far, the IRS has uncovered 19,000 cases of fraud, including a 4-year-old claiming the $8,000 tax credit, after allegedly purchasing his own home.
People should desist abusing the tax credit, as there are people in America that have legitimately benefited from the program, aiding them in purchasing their first home.
If there is too much abuse, the program maybe scrapped altogether. Therefore, think of others who genuinely need it, before you misuse the program.
Homebuyer's tax credit: A hotbed of fraud?
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 2:30PM - Lately, the residential real estate market has been perking up. A key driver has been a juicy tax break: the first-time home buyer's tax credit, which comes to $8,000. No doubt, this can make a big difference when making the decision to purchase a home.
In fact, about 1.4 million taxpayers have filed returns to take advantage of the benefit.
This should be a good thing, right? Well, whenever there is a significant tax break, expect a good amount of cheats to get a piece of the action (especially during hard economic times).
According to a report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, it looks like 19,000 people filed tax returns -- claiming the credit -- even though they did not purchase a home. Some of the cases are actually comical, such as a four-year old who purchased his first home.
Interestingly enough, there is evidence that 74,000 other returns could be shams...
