Senate approves $15,000 tax credit for homebuyers

Senate approves $15,000 tax credit for homebuyersASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Senate has voted to award anybody buying a home this year a tax credit worth up to $15,000 in hopes of jump-starting the sagging housing market.
The homebuyer tax credit offered by GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson would apply to any home purchased as a main residence and would cost taxpayers $19 billion. Senators approved it by a voice vote, adding the idea to President Barack Obama's economic recovery bill.People could claim the credit on their 2008 tax returns and it would apply to any home purchased for one year after the recovery plan becomes law.Isakson patterned his plan after a decades-old idea he says helped lift the economy out of recession in 1975.