Adoption Tax Credit


IRS Adoption Tax Credit

We’re advising all adoptive families to take an interest in this ongoing issue. Even if it does not benefit you directly, it has a big part as an incentive for someone else to give a forever home to a child.

Essentially it boils down to this……for years the credit was just that- a credit- which steadily rose up into the region of $13,000 per child adopted in a tax year. Fantastic? Yes, of course, BUT only for the relatively small number of families who were able to utilize it. What’s the problem? Well, typically in the USA, families who adopt are in the lower- and middle-income level. In many cases (especially if they have existing children with the standard tax deductions), there is so little tax to pay that there is barely anything to get a credit for. So, for many families it remained unused.

Then we had the radical changes after President Obama came in. For a two year period (2010 and 2011) the credit became a cash refund. For many families it was an incredible blessing. Then the bill was reversed and the refund reverted to being a credit–where it remains till this day. For the last two years lots of folk have been working on new legislation, i.e., to get the credit changed to a permanent refund. Presently it’s all up in the air and the future remains uncertain. The best information on this can be found on the NACAC (North American Council of Adoptable Children) site – www.nacac.org but also check out http://adoptiontaxcredit.org/

What to do?- If you are contemplating adoption then it would be wise to keep yourself informed on what’s happening. We’ll do our best to bring you the latest news on this page and via the Hope For 100 email newsletter- which you can subscribe to by contacting kevinb@mail.gabc.org.