Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200915043

CCA 200915043: First-time homebuyer credit refund was subject to federal debt offsets

Number
200915043
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Authority to Make Credits or Refunds
Topics
Procedure, penalties, and administration
Code sections
§ 36, § 6402
Ruling dated
February 12, 2009
Publicly released
April 10, 2009
Source
View Official PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page covers legal advice the IRS Office of Chief Counsel wrote for IRS staff, issued in 2009, which can't be cited as precedent. Ask about your situation and see what the current Code and IRS guidance say, with citations.

Currency note: this determination was released in 2009
Statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later IRS guidance may have changed the analysis since then. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, threshold, or position mentioned here.
Not precedent. Under 26 U.S.C. § 6110(k)(3), this written determination may not be used or cited as precedent. It is advice from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel to IRS personnel on the facts they presented, and identifying details were redacted by the IRS before release. The official IRS release (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source.
About this page: The plain-English summary and ruling snapshot below were written by Ezel based on the official IRS release. The full text is the IRS's own document.
View official IRS release (PDF)

Plain-English summary

An IRS attorney considered whether a refund generated by the first-time homebuyer credit received different treatment from other tax refunds. After reviewing sections 36 and 6402, the attorney concluded that it did not. The refund remained subject to offsets for tax debt and other federal debt in the same way as any other refund.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: Was a refund attributable to the first-time homebuyer credit protected from offsets for tax or other federal debt?
  • Outcome: Advice given: no, the ordinary federal debt-offset rules applied.
  • Key authorities: IRC §§ 36, 6402.

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2009021216133320 Number: 200915043
Release Date: 4/10/2009
Office: --------------
UILC: 6402.00-00

From: ------------------
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 4:13:35 PM
To: -------------------
Cc:
Subject: RE: IMRS - First Time Homebuyers Credit question

--------------

After reviewing section 36 and section 6402, the First Time Homebuyer credit taken on a ------- tax return
is subject to the same offsets for debt, either tax or other federal debt, as any other refund that a taxpayer
would receive.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or if you would like to discuss.

Thanks,
--------

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