Tax Credit

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers are trying to extend and expand an $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers, a stimulus-package tax break that many regard as a significant prop for the still-tottering economy. The latest Senate proposal would drop the requirement that the credit be available only to first-time buyers, broadening the program but also adding to its cost, estimated by congressional analysts at $16.7 billion. The backers of the idea, Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson and Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is chairman of the Senate’s banking committee, have suggested that...

The story of Cape Cod filmmaker Daniel Adams's $4.7 million abuse of the Massachusetts film production tax credit seems to have come to a sorry conclusion with his sentencing (" Convicted filmmaker gets up to 3 years, told to repay state ," Business, May 11). As an entertainment business professional for more than 30 years, I find it sad that this isolated abuse of an important economic stimulus — a program initiated under Governor Romney and improved by Governor Patrick — has taken the headlines away from the many positive stories being played out in the...

The Saver's Credit is a tax credit that provides an added benefit for low to moderate-income workers who save for retirement. The saver's credit will offset part of the first $2,000 that workers contribute to their IRAs or 401(k) plans (as well as other similar employer-sponsored retirement plan. This credit is also known as the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit. The maximum credit that a single taxpayer can receive is $1,000. Married taxpayers can receive a maximum credit of $2,000.

President Barack Obama pushes his legislative "to-do list" on Wednesday. He'll start with a visit to a company in the Washington area where he'll stress the need to invest in small business and increase new hiring. He wants Congress to pass a bill that would give a 10 percent tax credit to companies that create new jobs or increase wages this year. The president also will press the list when he has lunch with the congressional leadership. Following a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, he'll award the Medal of Honor to Army Spc. Leslie Sabo Jr. posthumously.

State Senator Richard Ross a Wrentham Republican, and a representative from the state Department of Revenue will hold a presentation on the circuit-breaker tax credit Thursday at 1 p.m. at the senior center. The circuit-breaker tax credit provides assistance for senior citizens needing help covering their mortgage or rent, up to a total tax credit of $980. For more information or to sign up, visit the center or call 508-699-7384. - Rachel Lebeaux

LOS ANGELES - Homebuilders are growing less optimistic about their fortunes as a temporary tax credit for first-time home buyers that boosted home sales this year nears its end. The National Association of Home Builders said yesterday this month’s housing market index, which tracks industry confidence, slipped by one point to 18, the first dip since June when the reading fell to 15. Builders also are feeling less positive about the likelihood...

The Arizona Senate has approved a bill creating a tax credit for motion picture production in the state. The bill that passed Thursday afternoon proposes a 20 to 30 percent tax credit for filmmakers that spend at least $250,000 in qualified expenses. A similar bill was introduced last year and in 2010 but neither bill made it to the Governor's desk. A 2006 law created a motion picture tax credit in the state but the incentive expired in 2010. This year's bill would create a tax credit that lasts through 2041.

Auto supplier Gentex Corp. could add up to 1,110 new jobs over the next five years through an expansion aided by a Michigan tax credit. Gentex, based in Zeeland, Mich., on Tuesday was awarded a state tax credit valued at up to $2.4 million over the next three years for facilities in Zeeland and Holland Charter Township. The company plans to invest about $160 million over the next five years. Gentex makes rearview mirrors and fire-protection products. The tax credit was awarded by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority.

A movie director accused of inflating expenses when he applied for Massachusetts film tax credits has been sentenced to two to 3 years in state prison. A Boston judge on Thursday also ordered Daniel Adams to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution to the state and serve 10 years' probation. The penalties had been announced when he pleaded guilty last month to charges including larceny and making a false claim against the state. Attorney General Martha Coakley's office had accused Adams of exaggerating expenses for two films shot on Cape Cod, "The Golden Boys"...

A quarter of the tax breaks given to movie companies under Massachusetts’ film tax credit program have gone to help filmmakers cover the paychecks of millionaire Hollywood stars. An Associated Press review of a Department of Revenue report on the tax credit program found that $82 million of the $330 million in film spending eligible for credits in 2009 went to pay the salaries of nonresident actors earning more than $1 million. Under the program a filmmaker can apply for a tax credit equal to 25 percent of a film’s production and payroll costs.

A second attempt by Minnesota Republicans to craft a tax-cut bill has met the same fate as the first. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed the legislation Monday, days after the Legislature left town for the year. The governor says sponsors of the bill didn't abide by his requirement that the cuts be paid for in future years and not add to a projected deficit. Dayton also took issue with the mix of tax breaks, saying businesses made out far better than homeowners. State GOP Chairman Pat Shortidge says the bill would have helped Minnesota's economy grow and put people back to work.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. said its profit jumped 30 percent in the first quarter because of a large tax credit and better results at its units in Thailand and Indonesia. SingTel said Thursday that profit for the January-March period rose to 1.29 billion Singapore dollars ($1.03 billion) from SG$992 million a year earlier. Operating revenue rose 3 percent to SG$4.78 billion from SG$4.64 billion. SingTel said profits were boosted by a SG$270 million tax credit. The company said without the tax credit and other one-time items, underlying profit in the quarter rose 2.5 percent...

A former Southbridge resident was sentenced Thursday to nearly 22 years in prison for his involvement in a fraud scam related to the federal first-time homebuyer tax credit program. Junior A. Lopez, also known as Ace, was sentenced in US District Court in Worcester for his involvement in a 2008 scam involving more than 50 fraudulent tax forms and $500,000 in refunds, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty last year to fraud-related charges linked to the federal program, which was aimed at stimulating the sluggish US housing...

A movie director accused of inflating expenses when he applied for Massachusetts film tax credits has been sentenced to two to 3 years in state prison. A Boston judge on Thursday also ordered Daniel Adams to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution to the state and serve 10 years' probation. The penalties had been announced when he pleaded guilty last month to charges including larceny and making a false claim against the state. Attorney General Martha Coakley's office had accused Adams of exaggerating expenses for two films shot on Cape Cod, "The Golden Boys" and...

WASHINGTON - Moving to protect the military from a crippling wave of budget cuts next year, a key House committee voted Monday to instead cut food aid, health care, and social services such as Meals on Wheels. The measure would require federal employees to contribute more to their pensions, saving taxpayers more than $80 billion over the coming decade, while illegal immigrants would be denied tax refunds from the $1,000 per-child tax credit. There is no companion legislation moving in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the proposal does not stand a chance of making it to President...

A bill to give businesses in Mississippi a larger income tax credit when they pay inventory taxes is headed to Gov. Phil Bryant. The final version of Senate Bill 2934 passed the Senate Monday, two days after clearing the House. The bill would increase the tax credit in phases. First, it would double the ceiling on the credit to $10,000 in 2014. In 2015 it would raise the ceiling to $15,000. Finally, in 2016, it would make the credit equal to state income tax or inventory tax, whichever is the smaller figure.

Colorado lawmakers from both parties are trying to save a federal incentive for the wind industry. Eight members of the congressional delegation signed a letter Tuesday asking for an extension of the wind energy production tax credit. A conference committee is negotiating the fate of the credit, which is due to expire at the end of the year. Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs is the only delegation member who didn't sign on. The credit helps offset the cost of electricity production during a wind farm's first 10 years.

WASHINGTON - Top Democrats in the Senate are pressing a plan that would extend a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers but gradually phase it out over the course of next year. The proposal, by Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus of Montana, would extend the $8,000 tax credit - which expires Nov. 30 - through March 31. Its value would drop by $2,000 for each of the subsequent three quarters of 2010. The plan, which could face a vote in the Senate this week, appears aimed at countering a far more generous $17 billion...

A sampling of area projects that have benefited from local and state programs, including tax breaks, aimed at boosting development: Gorton's Seafood, Gloucester: The company plans to invest about $14 million to install a new manufacturing line in its Gloucester facility after rejecting sites in Georgia and Quebec. The city offered local tax incentives worth $22,000, while the state's Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved $500,000 in investment tax credits. GT Crystal Systems.

WASHINGTON - The House passed a $46 billion tax cut Thursday that would benefit almost every business in the country, after a class-conscious debate that highlighted the gulf between the parties as the sluggish economic recovery drags on. The Republican majority pressed its one-year 20 percent cut to taxes on businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Democrats countered with the Buffett Rule, a $47 billion tax increase on the nation's richest households. In the conservative House, it was no contest.