On today’s NPR’s All Things Considered radio program, it was reported that there have been thousands of fraudulent first-time homebuyer tax credit claims as revealed in a report by the U.S. Treasury Inspector general. The program also notes that prisoners have been able to take advantage of the credit:
The tax credit applies only to a primary residence — a person has to actually live in the house. So if someone is in prison, it would be pretty tough to qualify for the credit. But that didn’t stop an estimated 1,300 inmates from fraudulently collecting the tax credit from behind bars.
“Unfortunately, they have a lot of time on their hands, and so this is how they’ve elected to use that time,” says J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. George says it is possible for a prisoner to buy a house, and if the prisoner has a spouse on the outside, that property could even qualify for the credit.