II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1930 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to enhance the administration 

of, and reduce fraud related to, the first-time homebuyer tax credit, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26, 2009 

Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to enhance 

the administration of, and reduce fraud related to, the 

first-time homebuyer tax credit, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homebuyer Tax Credit 

5 Oversight and Accountability Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROVISIONS TO ENHANCE THE ADMINISTRATION 

7 OF THE FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER TAX CRED8 IT. 

9 (a) AGE LIMITATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 36 

2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

3 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(3) AGE LIMITATION.—No credit shall be al5 lowed under subsection (a) with respect to the pur6 chase of any residence unless the taxpayer has at7 tained age 18 as of the date of such purchase. In 

8 the case of any taxpayer who is married (within the 

9 meaning of section 7703), the taxpayer shall be 

10 treated as meeting the age requirement of the pre11 ceding sentence if the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s 

12 spouse meets such age requirement.’’. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (g) 

14 of section 36 of such Code is amended by striking 

15 ‘‘subsections (c) and (f)(4)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub16 section (b)(3), (c), and (f)(4)(D)’’. 

17 (b) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENT.—Subsection 

18 (d) of section 36 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

19 is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph (1), 

20 by striking the period at the end of paragraph (2) and 

21 inserting a comma, and by adding at the end the following 

22 new paragraphs: 

23 ‘‘(3) the taxpayer fails to attach to the return 

24 of tax for such taxable year a properly executed copy 


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1 of the settlement statement used to complete such 

2 purchase, or 

3 ‘‘(4) the taxpayer fails to attach to the return 

4 of tax for such taxable year a certified statement of 

5 the taxpayer’s eligibility for the tax credit issued by 

6 the real estate reporting person (as defined in sec7 tion 6045(e)(2)) with respect to such purchase.’’. 

8 (c) RESTRICTION ON MARRIED INDIVIDUAL ACQUIR9 ING RESIDENCE FROM FAMILY OF SPOUSE.—Clause (i) 

10 of section 36(c)(3)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

11 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘(or, if married, such indi12 vidual’s spouse)’’ after ‘‘person acquiring such property’’. 

13 (d) CERTAIN ERRORS WITH RESPECT TO THE

14 FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT TREATED AS

15 MATHEMATICAL OR CLERICAL ERRORS.—Paragraph (2) 

16 of section 6213(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

17 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph 

18 (M), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph 

19 (N) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by inserting after subpara20 graph (N) the following new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(O) an entry on a return claiming the 

22 credit under section 36 if— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Secretary obtains information 

24 from the person issuing the TIN of the 

25 taxpayer that indicates that the taxpayer 


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1 does not meet the age requirement of sec2 tion 36(b)(3), 

3 ‘‘(ii) information provided to the Sec4 retary by the taxpayer on an income tax 

5 return for at least one of the 2 preceding 

6 taxable years is inconsistent with eligibility 

7 for such credit, or 

8 ‘‘(iii) the taxpayer fails to attach to 

9 the return the form described in paragraph 

10 (3) or (4) of section 36(d).’’. 

11 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro13 vided in this subsection, the amendments made by 

14 this section shall apply to purchases after the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act. 

16 (2) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENT.—The 

17 amendments made by subsection (b) shall apply to 

18 returns for taxable years ending after the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act. 

20 (3) TREATMENT AS MATHEMATICAL AND CLER21 ICAL ERRORS.—The amendments made by sub22 section (d) shall apply to returns for taxable years 

23 ending on or after April 9, 2008. 

24 (f) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION; REPORT.— 

25 The Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall take such 


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1 steps as are necessary to investigate and prosecute in2 stances of fraud related to the first-time homebuyer tax 

3 credit under section 36 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

4 1986. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall pro5 vide reports to Congress on the status of the investigatory 

6 and prosecutorial actions not later than 90 days after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly there8 after. 

9 SEC. 3. CERTAIN TAX RETURN PREPARERS REQUIRED TO 

10 FILE RETURNS ELECTRONICALLY. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 6011 of 

12 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR TAX RETURN PRE15 PARERS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

17 require than any individual income tax return 

18 prepared by a tax return preparer be filed on 

19 magnetic media if— 

20 ‘‘(i) such return is filed by such tax 

21 return preparer, and 

22 ‘‘(ii) such tax return preparer is a 

23 specified tax return preparer for the cal24 endar year during which such return is 

25 filed. 


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1 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIED TAX RETURN PRE2 PARER.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

3 term ‘specified tax return preparer’ means, with 

4 respect to any calendar year, any tax return 

5 preparer unless such preparer reasonably ex6 pects to file 100 or fewer individual income tax 

7 returns during such calendar year. 

8 ‘‘(C) INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX RETURN.— 

9 For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘indi10 vidual income tax return’ means any return of 

11 the tax imposed by subtitle A on individuals, es12 tates, or trusts.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) of 

14 section 6011(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

15 amended by striking ‘‘The Secretary may not’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (3), the Secretary 

17 may not’’. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply to returns filed after December 31, 

20 2010. 

Æ 


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