I was asked by buyers and agents after I published info on California housing tax credit. The main focus is: “Do you need to be in contract on or after May 1 to get this credit or as long as you COE on or after May 1, you could satisfy the timing requirement.”
On section 1, item (4) of the actual pdf of the bill, it says “A qualified principal residence is purchased on the date on which escrow closes with respect to the purchase of the qualified principal residence”.
Here it defines purchase as the date of close of escrow. However, on item (c) (1) (A) of the bill when it talks about the reservation of the credit prior to close of escrow, it specifies that the tax payer and seller need to submit a certification that “they have entered into an enforcable contract on or after May 1, 2010.”
I went on to check tax franchise board’s website to see how they interpret it. They will publish details on March 30: http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/New_Home_Credit.shtml
So go back to check tax franchise board on March 30. Tax Franchise Board is the one who execute it so how they read this bill and how they decide to implement it are the key.
I will write in more details about it on my blog at SiliconValleyHousingPost.com after read through the details published by tax franchise board on March 30.
