When it comes to the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, it seems there's a new program every week to help tap that money today.

Last week, National Public Radio reporter Mike Pesca sent me a link to the GOPs latest proposal for “The Responsible Homeowners Act” (PDF file). It contains several provisions, including the resurrection of the $15K home buyer tax credit that was briefly a part of the Stimulus Bill passed in February (and discussed on this blog at length).

A few weeks ago, Missouri’s state government implemented a program enabling home buyers to utilize the federal government tax credit as a down payment. Now, several U.S. state home builder associations are trying to follow Missouri’s lead by having their state governments pass bills to employ similar programs.

The IRS released additional information to help homebuyers understand the ways they can file to receive the homebuyer credit. It is important for taxpayers to know that they must complete the purchase and close or take up residence in the case of new construction in order to be eligible to file for the credit. Here are the four main options listed by the IRS:

First-time home buyers who purchase a home this year can now take advantage of the stimulus bill's $8,000 tax credit, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said in a news release on Wednesday.