U.S. Individual Income Tax Return Forms

Instructions for Form 5405

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

(Rev. November 2020)

Repayment of the First-Time Homebuyer Credit
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless
otherwise noted.

General Instructions
Future Developments

For the latest information about developments related to
Form 5405 and its instructions, such as legislation enacted
after they were published, go to IRS.gov/Form5405.

Reminder
Repayment requirement. The repayment requirement has
expired for homes purchased after 2008. The repayment
requirement continues to apply to homes purchased in 2008.

Purpose of Form

Use Form 5405 to do the following.
• Notify the IRS that the home you purchased in 2008 and
for which you claimed the credit was disposed of or ceased
to be your main home in 2020. Complete Part I and, if
applicable, Parts II and III.
• Figure the amount of the credit you must repay with your
2020 tax return. Complete Part II and, if applicable, Part III.

Who Must File

You must file Form 5405 with your 2020 tax return if you
purchased your home in 2008 and you meet either of the
following conditions.
1. You disposed of it in 2020.
2. You ceased using it as your main home in 2020.
But see Exceptions, later.
In all other cases, you aren't required to file Form 5405.
Instead, enter the repayment on 2020 Schedule 2 (Form
1040), line 7b. For example, you aren't required to file Form
5405 if you are making an installment payment of the credit
you claimed for a home you purchased in 2008, and you
owned and used the home as your main home during all of
2020.
Credit claimed on a joint return. If you and your spouse
claimed the credit on a joint return, each spouse is treated as
having been allowed half of the credit for purposes of
repaying the credit. Each spouse who meets either condition
1 or 2 above must file a separate Form 5405.

Exceptions

The following are exceptions to the repayment rule.
Condemnation or threat of condemnation. If the home is
destroyed, or you sell the home through condemnation or
under threat of condemnation to someone who isn't related to
you and you don't acquire a new home within the 2-year
period, the repayment with your return for the year in which
the 2-year period ends is limited to the gain on the disposition
as determined in Part III of Form 5405. The amount of the
credit in excess of the gain doesn't have to be repaid. (See
Related Persons, later.)
Jun 11, 2020

Transfer to spouse or ex-spouse. If the home was
transferred to a spouse (or ex-spouse as part of a divorce
settlement), the spouse who received the home is
responsible for repaying the credit (regardless of whether he
or she was the purchaser) if none of the other exceptions
apply.
Person who claimed the credit dies. If a person who
claimed the credit dies, repayment of the remaining balance
of the credit isn't required unless the credit was claimed on a
joint return. If the credit was claimed on a joint return, then
the surviving spouse is required to continue repaying his or
her half of the credit (regardless of whether he or she was the
purchaser) if none of the other exceptions apply.

Related Persons

Related persons include the following.
1. Your spouse, ancestors (parents, grandparents, etc.),
or lineal descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.).
2. A corporation in which you directly or indirectly own
more than 50% in value of the outstanding stock of the
corporation.
3. A partnership in which you directly or indirectly own
more than 50% of the capital interest or profits interest.
For more information about related persons, see the
discussion under Nondeductible Loss in chapter 2 of Pub.
544, Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets. When
determining whether you acquired your main home from a
related person, family members in that discussion include
only the people mentioned in (1) above.

Specific Instructions
Part I. Disposition or Change in Use
of Main Home for Which the Credit
Was Claimed

Complete Part I if you claimed the first-time homebuyer credit
for a home purchased in 2008 and either you disposed of the
home or it ceased to be your main home in 2020. This
includes situations where:
• You sold the home (including through foreclosure);
• You converted the entire home to business or rental
property;
• You abandoned the home (except in connection with a
sale or foreclosure);
• The home was destroyed, condemned, or disposed of
under threat of condemnation; or
• The taxpayer who claimed the credit died in 2020.
Sales (including through foreclosure). In the case of a
sale (including through foreclosure) of your main home, you
must repay the credit with the tax return for the tax year in
which the sale is completed. In general, this will occur when
the purchaser (or lender) obtains title to your home.
Name and social security number. Enter your name and
social security number. Each spouse who meets condition 1

Cat. No. 54378F

or 2 earlier under Who Must File must file a separate Form
5405. Each spouse must enter only his or her name and
social security number on his or her separate Form 5405.
This is true whether a joint return or separate returns are
filed.

Lines 3a, 3b, and 3c. If you sold your home to someone
who isn't related to you, complete Part III to figure the gain or
(loss) on the sale. (The person isn't related to you if he or she
doesn't meet the definition under Related Persons, earlier.)
The repayment is limited to the amount of gain. The amount
of the credit in excess of the gain doesn't have to be repaid.

Line 1. If your home was destroyed or condemned, or you
disposed of the home under threat of condemnation, enter
the date it was destroyed, condemned, or disposed of under
threat of condemnation (or the date it ceased to be your main
home, whichever is earlier).

Line 3d. See the Tip below for information about converting
your entire home to business or rental use.
Don't check this box if you converted only a part of the
home to rental or business use and you continue to use the
other part as your main home. Don't file Form 5405 for this
conversion. Enter your annual repayment on your 2020
Schedule 2 (Form 1040), line 7b.

Line 2. Check the box if you (or your spouse, if married):
• Are, or were, a member of the uniformed services or
Foreign Service or an employee of the intelligence
community (defined below); and
• Sold the home or the home ceased to be your main home
after 2008 because you (or your spouse, if married) received
U.S. Government orders to serve on qualified official
extended duty (defined next).
If you (or your spouse, if married) meet both of these
conditions, you (and your spouse, if married) don't have to
repay the credit.
Qualified official extended duty. You are on qualified
official extended duty while:
• Serving at a duty station that is at least 50 miles from your
main home, or
• Living in U.S. Government quarters under U.S.
Government orders.
You are on extended duty when you are called or ordered to
active duty for a period of more than 90 days or for an
indefinite period.
Uniformed services. The uniformed services are:
• The Armed Forces (the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine
Corps, and Coast Guard),
• The commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, and
• The commissioned corps of the Public Health Service.
Foreign Service member. For purposes of the credit,
you are a member of the Foreign Service if you are any of the
following.
• A Chief of mission.
• An Ambassador at large.
• A member of the Senior Foreign Service.
• A Foreign Service officer.
• Part of the Foreign Service personnel.
Employee of the intelligence community. For purposes
of the credit, you are an employee of the intelligence
community if you are an employee of any of the following.
• The Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
• The Central Intelligence Agency.
• The National Security Agency.
• The Defense Intelligence Agency.
• The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
• The National Reconnaissance Office and any other office
within the Department of Defense for the collection of
specialized national intelligence through reconnaissance
programs.
• Any of the intelligence elements of the Army, the Navy, the
Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Department of the Treasury, the
Department of Energy, and the Coast Guard.
• The Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the
Department of State.
• Any of the elements of the Department of Homeland
Security concerned with the analyses of foreign intelligence
information.

Example 1. You claimed the credit for a home you
purchased in 2008. In January 2020, you converted the
basement of your home for use as a child care business. You
continued to use the rest of your home as your main home in
2020. You are required to repay at least one-fifteenth (1/15) of
the credit with your 2020 return. You don't have to file Form
5405. Instead, enter the repayment on your 2020 Schedule 2
(Form 1040), line 7b.
Example 2. You claimed the credit for a home you
purchased in 2008. In January 2020, you moved out of the
home and converted it to rental property. You must check the
box on line 3d and complete Part II. In this case, you must
repay the balance of the credit with your 2020 tax return.
When you convert your entire home to business or

TIP rental use, you no longer use any part of it as your

main home. The home is used for business if you use
it for an activity that you carry on to make a profit. The facts
and circumstances of each case determine whether or not an
activity is a business.
Line 3e. Check the box on line 3e if you meet either of the
following conditions.
• You transferred the home to your spouse.
• You and your spouse divorced and you transferred the
home to your ex-spouse as part of the divorce settlement.
Include the full name of your ex-spouse in the space
provided.
The spouse who received the home is responsible for
repaying the credit under the rules provided in these
instructions.
Lines 3f and 3g—Home destroyed or sold through condemnation or under threat of condemnation. If your
home was destroyed or you sold your home through
condemnation or under threat of condemnation to a person
who isn't related to you, the amount of the credit you have to
repay (if any) is limited to the gain on the disposition.
Complete Part III to determine whether you have a gain.
Check the box on line 3f if you have a gain. If you don't
have a gain, you don't have to repay any of the credit.
Check the box on line 3g if you don't have a gain. Then read
the instructions below for line 3f or line 3g, whichever applies.
Line 3f. If you acquired or plan to acquire a new home
within 2 years of the event, you generally must continue to
repay the credit over a 15-year period that began with your
2010 tax return. Complete Part II to figure your installment
payment for 2020 if the event wasn't a sale to a related
person.
If you don't acquire a new home within the 2-year period,
the following rules generally apply.
-2-

Instructions for Form 5405 (Rev. 11-2020)

• If the event occurred in 2018, you generally must repay the
balance of the credit in full with your 2020 return. You don't
have to file Form 5405. Instead, enter the repayment on your
2020 Schedule 2 (Form 1040), line 7b.
• If the event occurred after 2018, your annual repayment
requirement continues until the year in which the 2-year
period ends. On the tax return for the year in which the 2-year
period ends, you must include all remaining installments as
an increase in tax.
Line 3g. If you don't have a gain, you don't have to repay
any of the credit, unless you sold your home under threat of
condemnation to someone who is related to you. If the buyer
is related to you, the rules explained above for line 3f apply,
except that you must repay the entire amount of the credit
you claimed if you didn't acquire a new home within the
2-year period. This is true even if you had a loss on the sale.

ex-spouse as part of a divorce settlement), enter the total
credit claimed by both you and your spouse (or ex-spouse).
Enter the credit you claimed for a home that was
destroyed or that you sold through condemnation or under
threat of condemnation.
Line 6. If you checked the box on line 3f and the event
wasn't a sale to a related person (defined earlier), go to
line 7.
If you checked the box on line 3f or line 3g and the event
was a sale to a related person (defined earlier), skip line 7
and go to line 8.
Line 7. If any of the following conditions apply, enter on
line 7 the gain from line 15.
• You checked the box on line 3a.
• You checked the box on line 3f and the event wasn't a sale
to a related person (defined earlier).
If neither of the above conditions apply, leave line 7 blank.

Line 3h. If you are filing a joint return for 2020 with the
deceased taxpayer, complete Form 5405 with the deceased
taxpayer's information only. Check box 3h and file the form
with your joint return. The deceased taxpayer need not repay
the credit in 2020 or any later year.
If you claimed the credit on a joint return with the
deceased taxpayer, the following rules also apply.
1. If you didn't dispose of the home and the home didn't
cease to be your main home, don't complete a separate
Form 5405 with your information.
2. If you disposed of the home or the home ceased to be
your main home, complete a separate Form 5405 with your
information only. Check the appropriate box on lines 3a
through 3g and file the form with your joint return.

Line 8. Read the following to determine the amount to enter
on line 8.
1. If you checked the box on line 3a, enter the smaller of
line 6 or line 7 on line 8.
2. If you checked the box on line 3c or line 3d, enter the
amount from line 6 on line 8.
3. If you checked the box on line 3f or line 3g, the
following rules apply.
a. If you checked the box on line 3f for an event that
occurred in 2020 and you didn't sell the home to a related
person (defined earlier), your repayment is limited to the
gain. If line 7 is less than line 6, divide line 7 by 6.0.
Otherwise, divide line 4 by 15.0. This is the minimum amount
you must repay with your 2020 return. Enter this amount (or a
larger amount if you choose) on line 8. But see Repaying
more than the minimum amount below.
b. If you checked the box on line 3f or line 3g for an event
that occurred in 2020 and you sold the home to a related
person (defined earlier), divide line 4 by 15.0. This is the
minimum amount you must repay with your 2020 return.
Enter this amount (or a larger amount if you choose) on
line 8. But see Repaying more than the minimum amount
below.
c. If you don't repay your credit earlier, you continue to
repay the amount described above with every tax return for
the next 4 years (2021 through 2024). But see (d) next for an
exception.
d. If you don't acquire a new main home within 2 years of
the event, (c) above doesn't apply. Instead, you must include
any remaining installments as an increase in tax on the tax
return for the year in which the 2-year period ends.

Note. If you originally claimed the credit on a joint return,
instructions 1 and 2 above apply even if you aren't filing a
joint return with the deceased taxpayer for 2020.

Part II. Repayment of the Credit

If you owned the home and used it as your main home during
all of 2020, you must continue repaying the credit with your
2020 tax return. You don't have to file Form 5405. Instead,
enter the repayment on your 2020 Schedule 2 (Form 1040),
line 7b.
If you are required to repay the credit because you
disposed of a home you purchased, or that home ceased to
be your main home, you generally must repay the balance of
the unpaid credit with your 2020 tax return. An exception
applies if your home was destroyed or condemned, or you
disposed of the home under threat of condemnation, and you
didn't acquire a new main home within 2 years of the event.
(See the instructions for lines 3f and 3g, earlier.) Another
exception applies for certain members of the uniformed
services or Foreign Service or employees of the intelligence
community (see the instructions for line 2, earlier).

Repaying more than the minimum amount. You must
repay at least one-fifteenth (1/15) of the credit with every tax
return during the repayment period until the year the credit is
paid in full. You can choose to repay more than the minimum
amount with any tax return. Your final payment may be less
than the required minimum amount.

If you and your spouse claimed the credit on a joint

TIP return, each spouse is treated as having been

allowed half of the credit for purposes of repaying the
credit. Each of you must file a separate Form 5405 to notify
the IRS that you disposed of the home or ceased to use it as
your main home and figure the amount of the repayment.

Example. You claimed a $7,500 credit for a home
purchased in 2008. You are required to repay at least $500 of
the credit ($7,500 ÷ 15 years = $500) each year for 15 years
starting with your 2010 tax return. However, you chose to
repay $1,700 with your 2010 tax return; you made the
required minimum payment of $500 with your 2011, 2012,
2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 tax

Line 4. If you claimed the credit on a joint return but your
spouse died, enter one-half of the credit you claimed. The
remaining half (that is, your spouse's half) doesn't have to be
repaid. If you and your spouse claimed the credit and the
home was later transferred to you by your spouse (or
Instructions for Form 5405 (Rev. 11-2020)

-3-

Part III. Form 5405 Gain or (Loss)
Worksheet

returns; and you choose to repay $600 with your 2021 tax
return. The minimum repayment with your 2022 tax return is
$200 (the balance of unpaid installments)—not $500.

Line 12. Enter the amount from line 6 of Worksheet 2 in Pub.
523.

-4-

Instructions for Form 5405 (Rev. 11-2020)