I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3901 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 22, 2009 

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. 

CROWLEY, and Ms. TITUS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

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 Improvement 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 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ 

19 at the end of paragraph (1), by striking the period at the 

20 end of paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘, or’’, and by adding 

21 at the end the following new paragraph: 

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

23 of tax for such taxable year a properly executed copy 

24 of the settlement statement used to complete such 

25 purchase.’’. 


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1 (c) RESTRICTION ON MARRIED INDIVIDUAL ACQUIR2 ING RESIDENCE FROM FAMILY OF SPOUSE.—Clause (i) 

3 of section 36(c)(3)(A) of such Code is amended by insert4 ing ‘‘(or, if married, such individual’s spouse)’’ after ‘‘per5 son acquiring such property’’. 

6 (d) CERTAIN ERRORS WITH RESPECT TO THE

7 FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT TREATED AS

8 MATHEMATICAL OR CLERICAL ERRORS.—Paragraph (2) 

9 of section 6213(g) of such Code is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (M), by striking the 

11 period at the end of subparagraph (N) and inserting ‘‘, 

12 and’’, and by inserting after subparagraph (N) the fol13 lowing new subparagraph: 

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

15 credit under section 36 if— 

16 ‘‘(i) the Secretary obtains information 

17 from the person issuing the TIN of the 

18 taxpayer that indicates that the taxpayer 

19 does not meet the age requirement of sec20 tion 36(b)(3), 

21 ‘‘(ii) information provided to the Sec22 retary by the taxpayer on an income tax 

23 return for at least one of the 2 preceding 

24 taxable years is inconsistent with eligibility 

25 for such credit, or 


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

2 the return the form described in section 

3 36(d)(3).’’. 

4 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro6 vided in this subsection, the amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply to purchases after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act. 

9 (2) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENT.—The 

10 amendments made by subsection (b) shall apply to 

11 returns for taxable years ending after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act. 

13 (3) TREATMENT AS MATHEMATICAL AND CLER14 ICAL ERRORS.—The amendments made by sub15 section (d) shall apply to returns for taxable years 

16 ending on or after April 9, 2008. 

17 SEC. 3. CERTAIN TAX RETURN PREPARERS REQUIRED TO 

18 FILE RETURNS ELECTRONICALLY. 

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

20 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

21 at the end the following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR TAX RETURN PRE23 PARERS.— 

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

25 require than any individual income tax return 


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1 prepared by a tax return preparer be filed on 

2 magnetic media if— 

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

4 return preparer, and 

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

6 specified tax return preparer for the cal7 endar year during which such return is 

8 filed. 

9 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIED TAX RETURN PRE10 PARER.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

11 term ‘specified tax return preparer’ means, with 

12 respect to any calendar year, any tax return 

13 preparer unless such preparer reasonably ex14 pects to file 100 or fewer individual income tax 

15 returns during such calendar year. 

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

17 For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘indi18 vidual income tax return’ means any return of 

19 the tax imposed by subtitle A on individuals, es20 tates, or trusts.’’. 

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

22 section 6011(e) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘The 

23 Secretary may not’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

24 paragraph (3), the Secretary may not’’. 


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

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

3 2010. 

Æ 


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