Four-year-old Gets First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

(MoneyWatch)  The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit provides $8,000 towards the purchase of a new house, if it's going to be the buyer's principal residence, if the buyer hasn't owned a home in the past three years, and if the buyer makes less than $75,000.

You know who fulfills all those requirements? Many homebuyers' children.

An article on the first-time homebuyer tax credit by Patricia Murphy in Politics Daily notes that a Congressional Ways and Means subcommittee was told Thursday that a four-year-old had received the credit.

According to her piece, "there is currently no law limiting the age of tax credit recipients."

My advice is to say, if you'll forgive the pun, do not try this at home. While it might be within the letter of the IRS guidelines that there's no age limit, if you bought a home and are income-eligible, you can take the credit yourself.

If you're not income-eligible (which is what happened to hubby and I, who bought a new place this year) -- well, it's not cricket to use your kids to take a tax credit you don't deserve. It's not free money, it's my money, and I'd rather it go to people who truly need it.

Read more:

• First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Expiring Soon
• Is Your City a Top Real Estate Market?
• Closing costs, state by state