Form 8396 - Mortgage Interest Credit

Purpose of Form
Use Form 8396 to figure the mortgage interest credit and any credit carryforward

Who Can Claim the Credit
You can claim the credit only if you were issued a qualified Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) by a state or local governmental unit or agency under a qualified mortgage credit certificate program.  The home to which the certificate relates must be your main home and must also be located in the jurisdiction of the governmental unit that issued the certificate. If the interest on the mortgage was paid to a related person, you cannot claim the credi

Caution: Certificates issued by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Farmers Home Administration, and Homestead Staff Exemption Certificates do not qualify for the credit.
The home to which the certificate relates must be your main home and also must be located in the jurisdiction of the governmental unit that issued the certificate.
If the interest on the mortgage was paid to a related person, you cannot claim the credit.

Refinanced Mortgage
You can refinance your mortgage without losing this credit if your existing MCC is reissued and the reissued certificate meets all of the following conditions.
- It must be issued to the holder(s) of the existing certificate for the same property.
- It must entirely replace the existing certificate. The holder cannot retain any portion of the outstanding balance of the existing certificate.
- The certified indebtedness on the reissued certificate cannot exceed the outstanding balance shown on the existing certificate.
- The credit rate of the reissued certificate cannot exceed the credit rate of the existing certificate.
- The reissued certificate cannot result in a larger amount on line 3 than would otherwise have been allowable under the existing certificate for any tax year.
For each tax year, you must determine the amount of credit that you would have been allowed using your original MCC. To do this, multiply the interest that was scheduled to be paid on your original mortgage by the certificate rate on your original MCC. The result may limit your line 3 credit allowed when you have a reissued MCC, even if your new loan has a lower interest rate.

Recapture of Credit
If you buy a home using an MCC and sell it within 9 years, you may have to recapture (repay) some of the credit. See Pub. 523, Selling Your Home, and Form 8828, Recapture of Federal Mortgage Subsidy.