U.S. Individual Income Tax Return

Form

8859

OMB No. 1545-0074

District of Columbia First-Time
Homebuyer Credit

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

©

2008

Attachment
Sequence No.

Attach to Form 1040 or Form 1040NR.

Name(s) shown on return

106

Your social security number

Note: Do not complete Parts I and II if you only have a credit carryforward from 2007.

Part I
A

General Information

Address of home qualifying for the credit (if different from the address shown on return)
Information from
settlement statement
or deed

Part II
1

©

B

Lot number

C

Square number

D

Settlement or closing date

Tentative Credit

Enter $5,000 ($2,500 if married filing separately). If the purchase price of the home was less than
$5,000, enter the purchase price (one-half of the purchase price if married filing separately). If
someone other than a spouse also held an interest in the home, enter only your share of the
$5,000 (or, if smaller, your share of the purchase price) (see instructions)

2

Enter your modified adjusted gross income (see instructions)

3

Is line 2 more than $70,000 ($110,000 if married filing jointly)?
No. Skip lines 3 through 5 and enter the amount from line 1 on line 6.
Yes. Subtract $70,000 ($110,000 if married filing jointly) from the
amount on line 2 and enter the result

1

2

3

Divide line 3 by $20,000 and enter the result as a decimal (rounded to at least three places).
Do not enter more than 1.000

4

5

Multiply line 1 by line 4

5

6

Subtract line 5 from line 1. This is your tentative credit

6

4

Part III
7

7

Tax Liability Limit

8

Enter the amount from Form 1040, line 46, or Form 1040NR, line 43

9

1040 filers:

8

%

Enter the total of any amounts from Form 1040, lines 47 through 51; line 12 of the line
11 worksheet in Pub. 972 (see instructions); Form 8396, line 11; and Form 8839, line
18.

1040NR filers:

Enter the total of any amounts from Form 1040NR, lines 44 through 46;
line 12 of the line 11 worksheet in Pub. 972 (see instructions);
Form 8396, line 11; and Form 8839, line 18

9

10

Subtract line 9 from line 8. If zero or less, enter -0- here and on line 11 and go to line 12

10

11

Current year credit. If you completed Part II, enter the smaller of line 6 or line 10. If you
completed Part III, enter the smaller of line 7 or line 10. Also include this amount on Form 1040,
line 54, or Form 1040NR, line 49. Check box c on that line and enter “8859” in the space next
to that box

11

Credit carryforward to 2009. Subtract line 11 from line 6 or line 7, whichever applies

12

12

.

Credit Carryforward From 2007

Enter the amount from line 12 of your 2007 Form 8859

Part IV

×

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see back of form.

Cat. No. 24779G

Form

8859

(2008)

Form 8859 (2008)

General Instructions
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code.

Purpose of Form
Use Form 8859 to claim the District of Columbia
first-time homebuyer credit.

Who Can Claim the Credit
In general, you can claim the credit if:
● You purchased a main home during 2008 in the
District of Columbia, and
● You (and your spouse if married) did not own any
other main home in the District of Columbia during the
1-year period ending on the date of purchase.
If you constructed your main home, you are treated as
having purchased it on the date you first occupied it.
Your main home is the one you live in most of the
time. It can be a house, houseboat, housetrailer,
cooperative apartment, condominium, or other type of
residence.
However, you cannot claim the credit if any of the
following apply.
● You acquired your home from certain related
persons or by gift or inheritance. Related persons
include, but are not limited to, your grandparents,
parents, spouse, children, and grandchildren. For
details, see section 1400C(e)(2).
● Your modified adjusted gross income (see the
instructions for line 2) is $90,000 or more ($130,000 or
more if married filing jointly).
● You previously claimed this credit for a different
home.

Amount of the Credit
Generally, the credit is the smaller of:
● $5,000 ($2,500 if married filing separately), or
● The purchase price of the home.
The credit is phased out over a range that:
● Begins when your modified adjusted gross income
exceeds $70,000 ($110,000 if married filing jointly), and
● Ends at $90,000 ($130,000 if married filing jointly).

Basis Reduction
You must reduce your basis in the home purchased by
the amount of the tentative credit shown on line 6.

Specific Instructions
Line 1
If two or more unmarried individuals buy a main home,
they can allocate the credit among the individual
owners using any reasonable method. The total
amount allocated cannot exceed $5,000 (or the
purchase price if it was less than $5,000).

Page

2

Note. A reasonable method is any method that does
not allocate all or a part of the credit to a co-owner
who is not eligible to claim that part of the credit.

Line 2
If you file Form 1040, your modified adjusted gross
income is the amount from Form 1040, line 38,
increased by the total of any:
● Exclusion of income from Puerto Rico, and
● Amount from Form 2555, lines 45 and 50; Form
2555-EZ, line 18; and Form 4563, line 15.
If you file Form 1040NR, your modified adjusted gross
income is the amount from Form 1040NR, line 36.

Line 9
If you are claiming the child tax credit, include on this
line the amount from line 12 of the line 11 worksheet in
Pub. 972.

TIP

If you are not claiming the child tax credit,
you do not need Pub. 972.

Line 12
Any unused credit shown on line 12 can be carried
forward until it has been used. You cannot carry the
unused credit back to prior years.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the
information on this form to carry out the Internal
Revenue laws of the United States. You are required to
give us the information. We need it to ensure that you
are complying with these laws and to allow us to figure
and collect the right amount of tax.
You are not required to provide the information
requested on a form that is subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act unless the form displays a valid OMB
control number. Books or records relating to a form or
its instructions must be retained as long as their
contents may become material in the administration of
any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax returns and
return information are confidential, as required by
section 6103.
The average time and expenses required to complete
and file this form will vary depending on individual
circumstances. For the estimated averages, see the
instructions for your income tax return.
If you have suggestions for making this form simpler,
we would be happy to hear from you. See the
instructions for your income tax return.