As an Idahoan, you can save to buy a first home while reducing the Idaho income tax you owe. You’ll save through an Idaho First-time Home Buyer Savings Account (FTHB account). You can take the deduction even if you don’t itemize.
This first home must be a single-family residence that you’ll own and occupy as your primary residence. This home can be a house, townhome, condominium, or manufactured home, among others. It can also be a new home under construction.
If you file taxes as an individual, you qualify if all of these are true:
You’re a first-time homebuyer. (You’ve never bought or owned, either individually or jointly, a single-family or multifamily residence anywhere.)
If you file taxes as married filing jointly, you and your spouse qualify if all of these are true:
If you file taxes as married filing separately, you can have an FTHB account if:
You must establish the FTHB account with a financial institution that’s authorized to do business in Idaho and to act as a fiduciary. This financial institution can be a bank, savings and loan association, credit union, or trust company.
Each calendar year:
Deposits can’t exceed $100,000 for the lifetime of the account. This amount includes both contributions and interest.
You can’t make any withdrawals in the first 30 days after opening the account. You also can’t transfer the account to anyone else.
You can deduct contributions and interest for an Idaho FTHB account on your Idaho income tax return for the year when you made the contributions and earned the interest.
You can deduct the full amount of contributions and interest up to a maximum of:
On your Idaho income tax return, you’ll need to provide basic information about this account. Your financial institution will send you a form with this information each January.
You don’t have to pay taxes on account withdrawals – including interest – if you use the money to pay for eligible home costs connected to buying a qualifying home. Eligible home costs are:
You must pay taxes on withdrawals you make for anything except eligible home costs.
These things aren’t withdrawals and aren’t taxable:
You must keep accurate records of all contributions and withdrawals.
Financial institutions must report account withdrawals to us using Form ID-FTHB, Beneficiary and Withdrawal Schedule First-time Home Buyer Savings Account.
Idaho Code section 63-3022V.
This information is for general guidance only. Tax laws are complex and change regularly. We can't cover every circumstance in our guides. This guidance may not apply to your situation. Please contact us with any questions. We work to provide current and accurate information. But some information could have technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. If there's a conflict between current tax law and this information, current tax law will govern.
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