The first time homebuyer’s tax credit has been helpful to a lot of people, saving them thousands of dollars toward the purchase of a new home, but they’re not the only tax credits that got a boost this year.  Here’s a few other that might apply to you.

“Residential Energy Property Credit”

• Have you made any improvements to the energy efficiency of your home?  If so you might qualify for this expanded tax credit.  You can claim up top 30% of the purchase price of qualifying home improvements, up to $1,500.  Certain improvements avoid this $1,500 limit as well, things like wind turbines, which will give you a 30% tax credit with no maximum.
• Be sure you check with the manufacturer of the materials used for your home improvement projects to make sure they qualify.

“American Opportunity Tax Credit”

• You might have already heard of the “Hope Credit”.  Well it’s been renamed and expanded.  This credit allows you to deduct the first $2,000 of college tuition and course materials, then 25% of the next $2,000, maxing out at $2,500—up from the $1,800 limit imposed by the Hope Credit.  In addition, the credit can now be applied to all 4 years of undergraduate study instead of just the Freshmen and Sophomore years.  The qualifying income level has also seen a substantial increase—from $46,000 to $80,000.
• Oh, and as a bonus, 40% of this tax credit is refundable even if you have no tax liability.

Unemployment

• Lost your job in 2009?  Well the good news is the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits are tax exempt.

Automobile Credits

The Cash for Clunkers program might be over, but there are still several other deductions for vehicles purchased in 2009 that you might qualify for.

• New cars purchased between February 17^th, 2009, and December 31^st may be able to deduct state and local sales taxes for the first $49,500 of the vehicle’s purchase price.  If you make over $125,000 as an individual, or $250,000 as a couple you might not qualify though.
• Purchasing a hybrid or plug-in electric vehicle?  There’s tax incentives for those as well.  Tax credits ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 are available this year.  Those credits are topping out at $7,500 next year, so it might be the right time to take advantage of a holiday sale.

For more information, consult the IRS website.

If you’re counting on your tax return in 2010 for a vacation or to pay off some bills, you might be one of the 15.4 million taxpayers in for a shock when you discover that your refund will be lower than expected, or even worse, you might end up owing money to the IRS.

The Making Work Pay tax credit, part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package was passed earlier this year, reduced the amount of income tax withheld from taxpayer’s paychecks by up to $400 for individuals or $800 for couples.  The idea was that people with more money would, get this, buy more.

The problem though, announced in a report on Monday, was that the Federal Tax Tables used to determine the correct withholdings failed to take into account situations like taxpayers with two jobs, families where both spouses work, or taxpayers with Social Security income still in the workplace (the people who probably need their full refund the most).

The Inspector General of the Treasury Department in charge of tax administration estimated that over 10% of 2009 filers would owe additional taxes due to the complex and convoluted Making Work Pay credit.  To make matters worse, 65,000 of those people might also face penalties from the IRS for underpaying their taxes.

If you’re worried that you might be one of the Americans affected by this, visit the IRS withholding calculator.

President Obama today signed into law the bill extending the homebuyers tax credit through May 1st, 2010– a 6 month extension of the tax credit.

The law provides an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, and $6,500 for homebuyers who have owned their current home for at least 5 years. Contracts must be in place by May 1st, 2010 to qualify.