Do I qualify for the First Time Homeowner Tax Credit? I inherited a house whose deed and tax documents are still recorded as "John Smith Life Estate", John Smith being my family member who passed away. I pay the taxes and upkeep and have rented the house out for the past year since relocating to another state, I lived in it up until that time.

I have researched this issue for you and could not come up with anything specific to your unique situation. But, here are the 8 situations that the IRS has stated that would disqualify a taxpayer from claiming this First Time HomeBuyer Credit. These are as follows;

1. Your income exceeds the phase-out range. This means joint filers with MAGI of $170,000 and above and other taxpayers with MAGI of $95,000 and above.

2. You buy your home from a close relative. This includes your spouse, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

***I suspect that you may not qualify based on this situation, because it mentions that your home ownership was due to a close relative. I would think that the intent of the law was preclude taxpayers from claiming this credit based on their proximity of relationship to the previous owner. Thus, inheriting the home would be result in you not qualifying for this tax credit.***

3. You stop using your home as your main home.

4. You sell your home before the end of the year.

5. You are a nonresident alien.

6. You are, or were, eligible to claim the District of Columbia first-time homebuyer credit for any taxable year.

7. Your home financing comes from tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds.

8. You owned another main home at any time during the three years prior to the date of purchase. For example, if you bought a home on July 1, 2008, you cannot take the credit for that home if you owned, or had an ownership interest in, another main home at any time from July 2, 2005, through July 1, 2008.

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