Page 23 - Selling Your Home User Guide

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Paying Back Credits and Subsidies in your local community, if you qualify, which include the
following.
If you received any homebuyer credits or federal mort- • Free File. This program lets you prepare and file your
gage subsidies, you may have to pay back (“recapture”) federal individual income tax return for free using
some or all of the amount by increasing your tax payment. brand-name tax-preparation-and-filing software or
Determine any amounts you may have claimed as a Free File fillable forms. However, state tax preparation
first-time homebuyer tax credit. If you bought your may not be available through Free File. Go to IRS.gov/
home in 2008, you must pay back the credit unless you FreeFile to see if you qualify for free online federal tax
qualify for an exception. preparation, e-filing, and direct deposit or payment op-
See Form 5405, Repayment of the First-Time Home- tions.
buyer Credit, to find out how much to pay back, or if you • VITA. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
qualify for any exceptions. If you do have to repay the program offers free tax help to people with
credit, file Form 5405 with your tax return. low-to-moderate incomes, persons with disabilities,
and limited-English-speaking taxpayers who need
Determine any amounts you may have received in help preparing their own tax returns. Go to IRS.gov/
federal mortgage subsidies in the 9 years leading up VITA, download the free IRS2Go app, or call
to the date of sale. If you financed your home under a 800-906-9887 for information on free tax return prepa-
federally subsidized program (loans from tax-exempt ration.
qualified mortgage bonds or loans with mortgage credit
certificates), you may have to recapture all or part of the • TCE. The Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) pro-
benefit you received from that program upon the sale or gram offers free tax help for all taxpayers, particularly
other transfer of ownership of your home. You recapture those who are 60 years of age and older. TCE volun-
the benefit by increasing your federal income tax for the teers specialize in answering questions about pen-
year of the sale. You may have to pay this recapture tax sions and retirement-related issues unique to seniors.
even if you can exclude your gain from income under the Go to IRS.gov/TCE, download the free IRS2Go app,
rules discussed earlier; that exclusion doesn’t affect the or call 888-227-7669 for information on free tax return
recapture tax. preparation.
See Form 8828, Recapture of Federal Mortgage Sub- • MilTax. Members of the U.S. Armed Forces and
sidy, to find out how much to repay, or whether you qualify qualified veterans may use MilTax, a free tax service
for any exceptions. offered by the Department of Defense through Military
If you did receive any federal mortgage subsidies, you OneSource. For more information, go to
must file Form 8828 with your tax return whether you sold MilitaryOneSource (MilitaryOneSource.mil/MilTax).
your home at a loss or a gain. If you had a loss, you won't Also, the IRS offers Free Fillable Forms, which can
have to pay back any subsidy. be completed online and then filed electronically re-
gardless of income.
How To Get Tax Help Using online tools to help prepare your return. Go to
IRS.gov/Tools for the following.
If you have questions about a tax issue; need help prepar- • The Earned Income Tax Credit Assistant (IRS.gov/
ing your tax return; or want to download free publications, EITCAssistant) determines if you’re eligible for the
forms, or instructions, go to IRS.gov to find resources that earned income credit (EIC).
can help you right away. • The Online EIN Application (IRS.gov/EIN) helps you

Preparing and filing your tax return. After receiving all get an employer identification number (EIN) at no
your wage and earnings statements (Forms W-2, W-2G, cost.
1099-R, 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC, etc.); unemployment • The Tax Withholding Estimator (IRS.gov/W4app)
compensation statements (by mail or in a digital format) or makes it easier for you to estimate the federal income
other government payment statements (Form 1099-G); tax you want your employer to withhold from your pay-
and interest, dividend, and retirement statements from check. This is tax withholding. See how your withhold-
banks and investment firms (Forms 1099), you have sev- ing affects your refund, take-home pay, or tax due.
eral options to choose from to prepare and file your tax re- • The First-Time Homebuyer Credit Account Look-up
turn. You can prepare the tax return yourself, see if you (IRS.gov/HomeBuyer) tool provides information on
qualify for free tax preparation, or hire a tax professional to your repayments and account balance.
prepare your return.
• The Sales Tax Deduction Calculator (IRS.gov/
Free options for tax preparation. Go to IRS.gov to see SalesTax) figures the amount you can claim if you
your options for preparing and filing your return online or itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040).
Getting answers to your tax questions. On
IRS.gov, you can get up-to-date information on
current events and changes in tax law.

Page 18 Publication 523 (2022)