Chapter 4
Recapture of Federal Subsidy

If you financed your home under a federally subsidized program (loans from tax-exempt qualified mortgage bonds or loans with mortgage credit certificates), you may have to recapture all or part of the benefit you received from that program when you sell or otherwise dispose of your home. You recapture the benefit by increasing your federal income tax for the year of the sale. You may have to pay this recapture tax even if you can exclude your gain from income under the rules in chapter 2; that exclusion does not affect the recapture tax.

Loans subject to recapture rules. The recapture applies to loans that:

1. Came from the proceeds of qualified mortgage bonds, or
2. Were based on mortgage credit certificates.

The recapture also applies to assumptions of these loans.

Federal subsidy benefit. If you received a mortgage loan from the proceeds of a tax-exempt bond, you received the benefit of a lower interest rate than was customarily charged on other mortgage loans. If you received a mortgage credit certificate with your mortgage loan, you were able to reduce your federal income taxes by a mortgage interest tax credit. Both of these benefits are federal mortgage subsidies.

Sale or other disposition. The sale or other disposition of your home includes an exchange, involuntary conversion, or any other disposition.

For example, if you give away your home (other than to your spouse or ex-spouse incident to divorce), you are considered to have "sold" it. You figure your recapture tax as if you had sold your home for its fair market value on the date you gave it away.

When the recapture applies. The recapture of the federal mortgage subsidy applies only if you meet both of the following conditions.

1. You sell or otherwise dispose of your home:
1. At a gain, and
2. During the first 9 years after the date you closed your mortgage loan.
2. Your income for the year of disposition is more than that year's adjusted qualifying income for your family size for that year (related to the income requirements a person must meet to qualify for the federally subsidized program).

When recapture does not apply. The recapture does not apply if any of the following situations apply to you:

• Your mortgage loan was a qualified home improvement loan of not more than $15,000,
• The home is disposed of as a result of your death,
• You dispose of the home more than 9 years after the date you closed your mortgage loan,
• You transfer the home to your spouse, or to your former spouse incident to a divorce, where no gain is included in your income,
• You dispose of the home at a loss,
• Your home is destroyed by a casualty, and you repair it or replace it on its original site within 2 years after the end of the tax year when the destruction happened, or
• You refinance your mortgage loan (unless you later meet the conditions listed previously under When the recapture applies).

Notice of amounts. At or near the time of settlement of your mortgage loan, you should receive a notice that provides the federally subsidized amount and other information you will need to figure your recapture tax.

How to figure and report the recapture. The recapture tax is figured on Form 8828. If you sell your home and your mortgage loan is subject to the recapture rules, you must file Form 8828 even if you do not owe a recapture tax. Attach Form 8828 to your Form 1040. For more information, see Form 8828 and its instructions.

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