Unique Homebuyer and Business Tax Credits Signed in Time to Help Weather the Recession (10/6/08)

Unique Homebuyer and Small Business Tax Credits Signed in Time to Help Residents Weather the Recession

October 6, 2008

Washington, D.C. - The renewal of the D.C. $5,000 homebuyer and small business tax credits that Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) has been struggling to get out of the Senate were included in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which was passed by the Congress on Friday and was signed by President Bush the same day. Norton, who first got these tax credits during the District's economic crisis in the 1990's said, "Once again, the D.C. tax credits have come just in time. Nationally, we expect little growth in home ownership, but the unique $5,000 homebuyer tax credit could help encourage people to buy here because the homebuyer credit is available nowhere else." She said that small businesses particularly need the D.C. tax credits, "and all the help they can get, because they already are becoming early victims of today's recession."

The tax credits are retroactive to Dec. 31, 2007 and will be good through Dec. 31, 2009. Individuals and families buying a home in the District for the first time are eligible even if they have owned elsewhere but not in the city. The $5,000 homebuyer incentive has been credited with stabilizing the District's population and encouraging renters to buy here instead of moving elsewhere in the region, and with shoring up the District's economy, which traditionally has been considered particularly unfriendly to small businesses. The tax credits expired last year and the Congresswoman worked hard to get them renewed.

For more information on the Homebuyer and Small Business Tax Credits, click here.