Home Buyer Tax-Credit Extension To Cost $16.7 Billion -Joint Tax
Cmte
By Jessica Holzer, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A U.S. Senate measure to extend the $8,000 tax credit
for first-time home buyers and open it up to all people purchasing a home would
cost $16.7 billion, congressional analysts said.
The price tag is less than what many observers had expected, a development
that could build momentum for continuing the credit, set to expire Nov. 30.
Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., have introduced
legislation that would extend the credit through June 30, 2010, broaden it to
all home buyers and raise the income limits to $150,000 for an individual or $
300,000 for a couple.
Currently, the credit phases out for individuals earning more than $75,000 and
married couples earning more than $150,000.
The senators plan to offer the legislation as an amendment to a bill extending
unemployment benefits. The legislation stands a good chance of passing the
Senate, where a measure to boost the credit to $15,000 was approved twice this
year before being stripped out in negotiations with the House.
House Democrats may once again insist on a much narrower extension. Ways and
Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said last week that he supports extending
the tax credit, but doesn't see the need to broaden it beyond first-timers.
Attaching the measure to a bill extending unemployment benefits could give
Senate lawmakers leverage in their talks with the House.
It could be "politically tough for House Democrats to hold up the unemployment
bill in order to fight the housing tax credit," Jaret Seiberg of Concept Capital
wrote in a research note to clients.
A copy of the $16.7 billion estimate from Congress' Joint Committee on
Taxation was obtained by Dow Jones Newswires.
- By Jessica Holzer, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9228; jessica.holzer@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-14-091216ET
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