The First-Time Home Buyer credit was introduced into the tax code in 2008 and was intended on increasing the purchasing of houses after the mortgage crunch of 2007, which significantly reduced the prices of houses.
The credit ran throughout the 2008 to 2010 tax years and was phased out after 2010, apart from military personnel and other federal officials who worked outside the U.
S in 2010.
There are various rules that apply the amount to claim; qualifications of the credit and the handling of the credit for the three years that it was available to home buyers are: Qualifications of First Time Home Owners Credit There are various conditions needed for one to have qualified for the First-Time Home Buyer credit.
These rules of qualification are given below:

• Not owned a home in the last three years - For one to qualify for the First-Time Home Buyer credit, he or she must not have owned a house for at least 3 years.
  In other words, people claiming the 2008, 2009, and 2010 First-Time Home Buyer credit must not have owned houses since 2005, 2006, and 2007 respectively.
  
• Not bought the home from a relative - To qualify for the tax credit, you must have bought the house from a non-relative
• Single family house - The house needs to be a single family house.
  This means that duplexes and other bigger houses do not qualify for the credit.
  However, attached houses, stand alone houses, boat houses, beach homes, and apartments all qualify for the credit.
  The house could either have been bought or built by the taxpayer.
  
• U.
  S.
  citizens only - The credit is only extended to US citizens only.
  For the 2009 and 2010 first time home buyers credit, the citizen also needs to have been over 18 years of age and must not be a dependent.
  
• House price cap - For the house to qualify for the credit, it needs to have been sold for $800,000.
  00 or less.
  Houses above this cap are not eligible for the credit.
  
• Income cap - For one to qualify for this tax break, he or she will need to have had an annual Adjusted Gross Income of $170,000.
  00 for married filing jointly and $95,000.
  00 for single taxpayers to benefit from the credit.
  These amounts were adjusted after November 2009 to higher limits.
  The married filing jointly cap was raised to $245,000.
  00 and the single cap was raised to $145,000.
  00.
  

The 2008 Tax Credit on First Time Home Buyers Different rules applied for the 2008 First-Time Home Buyer credit.
Unlike the subsequent years, the 2008 credit was more of a loan as the recipient needed to pay back the credit given at no interest.
Taxpayers who claimed the First-Time Home Buyer credit in 2008 received a maximum of $7,500.
00 and are expected to repay the credit received in installments $500.
00 for 15 years starting from 2010.
2009 and 2010 Tax Credit The home buyer credit for 2009 and 2010 had differing rules.
For starters, the credit was a full credit and the taxpayer who claimed it was not required to pay it back.
The maximum for the credit amount was also increased to $8,000.
00 for these two years.
The credit for 2009 and 2010 was also available to non-first-time buyers to a cap of $6,500.
00.