First time home buyer credit...I bought my home in April of 2016 and they said I could claim it on my taxes...but your website is saying its not longer available for 2016?

[JaimeG]

Yes there are various credits and deductions that are available to Home Buyers for Tax Year 2016 in TurboTax Deluxe as they are Schedule A deductions or Credits taken on forms available in TurboTax Deluxe:

1. Mortgage Interest Deduction- This deduction is available if you are itemizing your deductions in Schedule A. The deduction is valid for loans up to $1 million dollars or $500,000 of you are married filing separately. This deduction is beneficial since the Interest to Principal ratio is rather high in the early years of the loan therefore creating a higher deduction.
2. Mortgage Interest Credit- This credit is available if you received a Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) issued by a government agency. This also is a credit which would actually reduce the tax owed instead of just reducing your Taxable income the way a deduction does. This is not a refundable credit, it will only bring your liability to -zero-.  
3. Mortgage Points Deduction- As with the Mortgage Interest Deduction you must itemize in Schedule A in order to render this credit. There are a few specific details regarding the application of this deduction. Please follow this link to the IRS page that delves further into this deduction:

   Mortgage Points Deduction

4. Property Tax Deduction- Once again this is a deduction applied in Schedule A. There are less restrictions and details to this deduction and it is available as long as you take itemize your return.

These are Deductions and Credits which are actually present a better benefit to the now defunct First Time Homebuyer's Credit.

[JaimeG]

Yes, The First Time Home Buyer Credit was phased out a few years ago. This Credit was available if you were an eligible buyer who purchased a home as your primary residence in 2008, 2009 or 2010. Eligibility varies depending upon the year of your purchase there were specific benefits that certain members of the military and certain other federal employees had, such as an additional year to buy a home in the United States, if they otherwise qualified for the credit.

Further Details regarding this Credit Can be found by following the link below:

https://www.irs.gov/uac/first-time-homebuyer-credit-1

[daisyrenlichevy]

I guess I am confused then because when I purchased the home they said I could receive a tax credit between 5000 and $8000 and I want to file my taxes and I don't know how to claim that.