I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 309 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow certain current and 

former service members to receive a refundable credit for the purchase 

of a principal residence. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2009 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself and Mr. PUTNAM) 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 allow certain current and former service members to receive a 

refundable credit for the purchase of a principal residence. 

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 ‘‘American Heroes’ 

5 Homeownership Assistance Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. QUALIFIED SERVICE MEMBER HOMEBUYER CRED2 IT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub4 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36 the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 36A. QUALIFIED SERVICE MEMBER HOMEBUYER 

8 CREDIT. 

9 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of a 

10 qualified service member, or such service member’s sur11 viving spouse, who purchases a principal residence, there 

12 shall be allowed to the taxpayer a credit against the tax 

13 imposed by this chapter an amount equal to 10 percent 

14 of the purchase price of such residence. 

15 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro17 vided in this paragraph, the credit allowed under 

18 subsection (a) shall not exceed $7,500. 

19 ‘‘(2) MARRIED INDIVIDUALS FILING SEPA20 RATELY.—In the case of a married individual filing 

21 a separate return, paragraph (1) shall be applied by 

22 substituting ‘$3,750’ for ‘$7,500’. 

23 ‘‘(3) OTHER INDIVIDUALS.—If two or more in24 dividuals who are not married purchase a principal 

25 residence, the amount of the credit allowed under 

26 subsection (a) shall be allocated among such individVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:27 Jan 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H309.IH H309

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1 uals in such a manner as the Secretary may pre2 scribe, except that the total amount of the credits al3 lowed to all such individuals shall not exceed $7,500. 

4 ‘‘(4) ONE-TIME ONLY.—If an individual receives 

5 a credit under subsection (a) for the purchase of a 

6 principal residence, such individual shall not be al7 lowed a credit under subsection (a) with respect to 

8 the purchase of any other principal residence. The 

9 preceding sentence shall not apply to a principal res10 idence with respect to which a credit is allowed 

11 under subsection (a) and to which subsection (e)(1) 

12 applies. 

13 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED SERVICE MEMBER.—The term 

15 ‘qualified service member’ means a current or 

16 former service member who performs duty in a com17 bat zone between the years 2001 and 2010. 

18 ‘‘(2) SERVICE MEMBER.—The term ‘service 

19 member’ means a member of the uniformed services 

20 (as defined in section 101(a)(5) of title 10, United 

21 States Code). 

22 ‘‘(3) COMBAT ZONE.—The term ‘combat zone’ 

23 has the meaning given such term by section 

24 112(c)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(4) PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE.—The term ‘prin2 cipal residence’ has the same meaning as when used 

3 in section 121. 

4 ‘‘(5) PURCHASE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘purchase’ 

6 means any acquisition, but only if— 

7 ‘‘(i) the property is not acquired from 

8 a person related to the person acquiring it, 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the basis of the property in the 

11 hands of the person acquiring it is not de12 termined— 

13 ‘‘(I) in whole or part by reference 

14 to the adjusted basis of such property 

15 in the hands of the person from whom 

16 acquired it, or 

17 ‘‘(II) under section 1014(a) (re18 lating to property acquired from a de19 cedent). 

20 ‘‘(B) CONSTRUCTION.—A residence which 

21 is constructed by the taxpayer shall be treated 

22 as purchased by the taxpayer on the date the 

23 taxpayer first occupies the residence. 


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1 ‘‘(6) PURCHASE PRICE.—The term ‘purchase 

2 price’ means the adjusted basis of the principal resi3 dence on the date such residence is purchased. 

4 ‘‘(7) RELATED PERSONS.—A person shall be 

5 treated as related to another person if the relation6 ship between such persons would result in the dis7 allowance of losses under section 267 or 707(b) (but 

8 in applying section 267(b) and (c) for purposes of 

9 this section, paragraph (4) of section 267(c) shall be 

10 treated as providing that the family of an individual 

11 shall include only his spouse, ancestors, and lineal 

12 descendants). 

13 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.—No credit under subsection (a) 

14 shall be allowed to any taxpayer for any taxable year with 

15 respect to the purchase of a residence if— 

16 ‘‘(1) credit under section 36 (relating to first17 time homebuyer credit) or 1400C (relating to first18 time homebuyer in the District of Columbia) is al19 lowed to the taxpayer (or the taxpayer’s spouse) for 

20 such taxable year or any prior taxable year, 

21 ‘‘(2) the residence is financed by the proceeds 

22 of a qualified mortgage issue, the interest on which 

23 is exempt from tax under section 103, 

24 ‘‘(3) the taxpayer is a nonresident alien, or 


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1 ‘‘(4) the taxpayer disposes of such residence (or 

2 such residence ceases to be the principal residence of 

3 the taxpayer (and, if married, the taxpayer’s 

4 spouse)) before the close of such taxable year. 

5 ‘‘(e) RECAPTURE OF CREDIT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro7 vided in this subsection, if a taxpayer disposes of the 

8 principal residence with respect to which a credit 

9 was allowed under subsection (a) (or such residence 

10 ceases to be the principal residence of the taxpayer) 

11 before the end of the recapture period, the taxpayer 

12 shall take into gross income an amount equal to one 

13 half the credit allowed under subsection (a) in the 

14 first taxable year following such disposal or cessation 

15 and one half in the second taxable year following 

16 such disposal or cessation. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) DEATH OF TAXPAYER.—Paragraph 

19 (1) shall not apply to any taxable year ending 

20 after the date of the taxpayer’s death. 

21 ‘‘(B) INVOLUNTARY CONVERSION.—Para22 graph (1) shall not apply in the case of a resi23 dence which is compulsorily or involuntarily 

24 converted (within the meaning of section 

25 1033(a)) if the taxpayer acquires a new prinVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:27 Jan 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H309.IH H309

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1 cipal residence during the 2-year period begin2 ning on the date of the disposition or cessation 

3 referred to in paragraph (1). Paragraph (1) 

4 shall apply to such new principal residence dur5 ing the recapture period in the same manner as 

6 if such new principal residence were the con7 verted residence. 

8 ‘‘(C) TRANSFERS BETWEEN SPOUSES OR

9 INCIDENT TO DIVORCE.—In the case of a trans10 fer of a residence to which section 1041(a) ap11 plies— 

12 ‘‘(i) paragraph (1) shall not apply to 

13 such transfer, and 

14 ‘‘(ii) in the case of taxable years end15 ing after such transfer, paragraph (1) shall 

16 apply to the transferee in the same manner 

17 as if such transferee were the transferor 

18 (and shall not apply to the transferor). 

19 ‘‘(D) ACQUISITION OF NEW PRINCIPAL

20 RESIDENCE.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply if 

21 the taxpayer acquires a new principal residence 

22 during the 2-year period beginning on the date 

23 of the disposition. Paragraph (1) shall apply to 

24 such new principal residence during the recapVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:27 Jan 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H309.IH H309

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1 ture period in the same manner as if such new 

2 principal residence were the disposed residence. 

3 ‘‘(3) RECAPTURE PERIOD.—For purposes of 

4 this subsection, the term ‘recapture period’ means 

5 the taxable year following the taxable year for which 

6 a credit is allowed under subsection (a). 

7 ‘‘(4) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a credit 

8 allowed under subsection (a) with respect to a joint 

9 return, half of such credit shall be treated as having 

10 been allowed to each individual filing such return for 

11 purposes of this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section shall 

13 only apply to principal residences purchased by the tax14 payer before January 1, 2011.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) Section 26(b)(2) of such Code is amended 

17 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (W), 

18 by striking the period and inserting ‘‘, and’’ at the 

19 end of paragraph (X), and by inserting after sub20 paragraph (X) the following new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(Y) section 36A(e) (relating to recapture 

22 of qualified service member homebuyer cred23 it).’’. 

24 (2) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of such Code is 

25 amended by inserting ‘‘36A,’’ after ‘‘36,’’. 


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1 (3) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 

2 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘36A,’’ after 

3 ‘‘36,’’. 

4 (4) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

5 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

7 item relating to section 36 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36A. Qualified Service Member Homebuyer Credit.’’. 

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

9 this section shall apply to principal residences purchased 

10 by the taxpayer on or after the date of enactment of this 

11 Act. 

Æ 


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