Nathan Goodman

Here you will find the information pertaining the First Time Home Buys Savings Account.

This link will take you to the actual form.

http://mt.gov/revenue/formsandresources/93-99forms/99-FTB.pdf

I have include theactualdocument in case you have questions which can be answer at the bottum paragragh. In these hard times now is the time to take advantageofmoney saving opertunities for your clients.

FIRST-TIME HOME BUYER SAVINGS ACCOUNT

Name______________________________Social Security Number___________________

Account Information

Financial Institution where account is located_____________________________________

Address of Financial Institution________________________________________________

Complete the table below for the current year. Additional information regarding first-time

home buyer savings account is provided on the back of this form. If you made withdrawals

from your first-time home buyer savings account that were not used to pay qualifying expenses,

you must complete Form FTB-P. To order this form call 1-406-444-6900.

A B C D

Date Deposits Interest Withdrawals Withdrawals Balance

Earned Used for Used for Columns A+B

Eligible Noneligible Less Columns

Expenses Expenses C+D

Enter balance of accounts as 12-31-98

Your allowable reduction is the total of column A or $3,000 whichever is less, plus the total of column B.

Attach this form to your Montana income tax return.

homebuyers, please access our website at http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/pubs/mt9918.html

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Form FTB

Rev. 8/99

MONTANA

158

MONTANA FIRST-TIME HOME BUYER SAVINGS ACCOUNT

Beginning with tax year 1998, qualifying taxpayers may exclude contributions made to accounts established

specifically to pay eligible costs associated with the purchase of a taxpayer's first home. A

qualifying taxpayer (first-time home buyer) is "an individual who has never owned or purchased under

contract for deed, either individually or jointly, a single-family residence in Montana or out-of-state".

Eligible costs include "the down payment and allowable closing costs for the purchase of a single-family

residence in Montana by a first-time home buyer".

The maximum exclusion per year per individual is $3,000. Contributions in excess of $3,000 may be

claimed as a reduction from Montana adjusted gross income in subsequent tax years, however, the

maximum contribution deduction allowed in any one tax year is $3,000.

Married couples may each claim a first-time home buyer savings account reduction of up to $3,000 if they

maintain separate accounts. Jointly held accounts do not qualify as first-time home buyer accounts

unless husband and wife file jointly (both using the same column of the tax return) for Montana tax

purposes.

In addition to deducting up to $3,000 in contributions to a first-time home buyer savings account, interest

earned on an account is excludable from Montana adjusted gross income.

No first-time home buyer reductions are allowed after a home is purchased. Any funds remaining in an

account after home is purchased must be included in Montana adjusted gross income in the year the home

is purchased. Funds remaining in an account after the purchase of a home are not includable in Montana

adjusted gross income if the funds were not claimed as a first-time home buyer reduction.

First-time home buyer savings accounts are self-administered and can be established with any financial

or investment institution. The account must be a new account established in the first year the reduction

is claimed. The account cannot be used for any purpose other than for paying qualifying expenses related

to the purchase of a first home do qualify for the first-time home buyer provision.

If, after 10 years of making contributions to an account, a taxpayer has not purchased a home, funds in

a first-time home buyer savings account will become subject to Montana income tax as ordinary income.

Withdrawals from first-time home buyer savings accounts used for purposes other than qualifying firsttime

home purchase expenses are subject to state taxation as ordinary income and are also subject to a

10% withdrawal penalty. Money withdrawn from an account on the last business day of the tax year is

not subject to the 10% penalty, however it is subject to state taxation.

Taxpayers claiming this exclusion must attach to their return each year:

n Copies of all account statements (monthly, quarterly, annual) from the financial or investment

institution where the account is maintained.

n A completed Form FTB.

For the year in which a home is purchased, taxpayers claiming the first-time home buyer savings account

reductions must also attach to their tax return copies of the buy/sell agreement and the closing statement

for the home purchased.

Additionally, upon the Department of Revenue's request, account holders must be able to provide verification

that all withdrawals from an account were used to pay qualifying expenses associated with the

purchase of a first home.

Montana Board of Housing - A great product to get low income and rural properties sold. I am taking the training and the program looks to be a great resource for the Montana real estate market. FNMA is the only GOE that is going to take a MBOH loan. The rates are historically a bit lower than conventional loans. I look forward to learning more and if any one else is interested be sure to let me know and I will answer any questions about the program.

Bridger Bowl received a new ski lift over the summer and it looks to be awesome. The lift will provide access to the Slushmans area, which can be dangerous but also a lot of fun. Hopefully no ones dies over there because the avalanche danger is extremely high in that region. The mountain should see the lift lines go down but I am sure we will see a run over o the new lift every powder day because that lift access snow is the farthest out so people will undoubtedly ski it first...

I was informed by a source close to moon light that they will not be doing any further mountain development until further notice. They had a loan with Lehman Brothers that was due and payment was missed so the Mountain expansion has been suspended no new lifts or bathrooms, and the real estate side of things has also been put on hold...More as story develops...

I believe that getting front of the financial crisis will only drag the Federal Government further into the red. Historically the government is a reactive measure to combat private sector issues when the free market was unable to solve the problem. I fear that this time we are only stepping out in front of a speeding train that is eventually going to wreck. Accept this time the Federal Government is a passenger instead of a on looker of the financial tragedy. The plan can stop the inevitable so just let it happen rather than delay it until the winter or early spring. The constant propping up of the markets is only making the Governments credibility more deeply entrenched in the bad faith of this financial crisis. If the federal government goes down due to bad Private market choice who will bail them out? The answer is simple no one, you will then see a rapid disconnection of other foreign governments from our assets, bonds, and currency and in the end the US will be life a person with a plague; quarantined from the rest of the world for the mistakes of a few on Wall Street. So once again I say let the free market fail and then step in rather than taking us all along on a speeding train to a terrible end...