Bloomberg.com: Homebuyer tax credit reduced, but not removed

In an interesting turn of events, a Bloomberg.com article is reporting that the homebuyer tax credit was not removed from the economic stimulus package, but was reduced from $15,000 to $8,000 max.

The article, which was updated just after 7pm Eastern on Wednesday, stated:

"Negotiators all but eliminated the biggest tax cut for businesses, a provision that would let companies convert losses into tax refunds, Baucus said. He said the provision, which would have let companies claim an estimated $67.5 billion in tax refunds this year and next, was sacrificed to help keep the final package under $800 billion. A proposed $15,000 tax credit for homebuyers was reduced to $8,000, Baucus said."

So we've gone from a $15,000 homebuyer tax credit, to a possible reduction of the credit, to a rumor of the credit being removed entirely, back to the credit having been reduced to $8,000, and all in a span of eight hours.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are more twists to this story by the time the bill makes it to President Obama's desk, IF it makes it to his desk. If so, I promise to keep you updated.

Questions or comments? Contact Sean Cutright at scutright@deltagroup.com.