Tax Q&A: Can I Get My Tax Credit Now if I Buy My House in 2010?

by Taxes 5 comments

In order to produce the podcast and keep content up free for you, I work with partners so this post may contain affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure for more info.

I'm sure many of you are like us work on your taxes. This year we're using Turbo Tax to get everything organized. We're using Turbo Tax to find as many deductions and tax credits as we can qualify for.

Last month we bought a townhouse and I wanted to find out if we could claim the first time home buyer's tax credit when we file our 2009 taxes.

Turbo Tax's Live Community

Turbo Tax did a great job creating the Live Community. Over the last 3 years, they've accumulated questions people have about their taxes.

Live Community is a wonderful resource that allows you to get the answer you need on many common tax questions. Tax experts are moderators, checking to make sure the answers are correct so you’re not given bad information.

I decided to go ahead and use the Live Community feature and see how it works firsthand. I tried to ask the question as concisely as I could.  

As you can see, I went ahead and mentioned that the house has been bought in 2010, but I wanted to claim the first time home buyer tax credit with my 2009 taxes.

I immediately got a response and the first two covered my question. I could take the credit on my 2009 taxes and they showed me where on Turbo Tax interview I could pick up that information.

In case you're interested, there are different edition of the Turbo Tax to cover the different needs of customers.

  • Free Edition: If you have a very simple tax return to file, TurboTax Free Edition is the way to go.
  • Deluxe: Many people will find this a suitable option to examine deductions for families and homeowners.
  • Premier: If you have investments and/or rental properties, you should consider getting this edition.
  • Home & Business: We used this edition as I have a freelance business I have to do taxes for in addition to our personal.

If you want to get started on your taxes, grab your copy of TurboTax today!

Your Take

I'm curious to see how everyone else is handling their taxes. Are you doing your taxes with software like Turbo Tax? Do you use a tax professional to file your returns or do you do it completely yourself?

About Elle Martinez

Elle Martinez helps families at Couple Money achieve financial freedom by sharing tips for reducing debt, increase income, and building net worth. Learn how to live on one income and have fun with the second..

See all posts Visit website

5 comments add your comment

  1. Hi there, I’ve done my taxes with Turbo Tax for about 3 years now, it just keeps getting better. I do web design for a living and I think Turbo Tax is one of the best user interfaces I’ve ever encountered. The live community is one of the reasons I like it, you can get answers quickly, and you can differentiate whether the answer was posted from an expert or simply a member of the community. I can’t say enough good things about thier tool.

  2. I finally wised up this year and DID NOT use Turbo Tax for my STATE returns. For my state they are free and easy to file on-line.

    I do use turbo tax deluxe (with discount) for federal and I too find the “live community” very helpful.

  3. @Ariel: I really used the Live Community feature this year as we were looking at different situations to maximize our refund.

    @sahmCFO: I’m glad you found a free option for your state taxes!

Previous Post:

Next Post: