A Voice for His Children

Save the Adoption Tax Credit is the effort of a national collaboration of organizations and individuals called the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group that have united to support the cause of adoption by advocating for the adoption tax credit. We know the adoption tax credit is an important resource to help children find forever families and make adoption affordable for all.

The adoption tax credit, which can be claimed for eligible adoption-related expenses, has helped thousands of American families offset the high cost of adoption since the credit was established in 1997. Since 2003, families that adopted children with special needs could claim the full credit regardless of their qualified adoption expenses. The credit has made adoption a more viable option for many parents who might not otherwise have been able to afford adoption, allowing them to provide children with loving, permanent families. With more than 100,000 children in U.S. foster care available for adoption, and countless millions of orphaned and abandoned children around the world, the continuation of the adoption tax credit is vital to providing love, safety, and permanency to as many children as possible.

The goal is have an adoption tax credit that is:

• Inclusive: Children, whether adopted from foster care, through intercountry adoption, or through private domestic adoption should be able to benefit from the adoption tax credit.

• Permanent: The adoption tax credit should become a permanent part of the tax code to ensure continued support to those who bring children into families through adoption.

• Refundable: The adoption tax credit should be refundable to ensure that families with moderate and lower incomes receive the full benefit of the credit.

• Flat for Special Needs: All families who adopt a child with special needs should be eligible for a “flat” tax credit, meaning they can claim the maximum credit without documenting expenses. This distinction, which is already in current law, recognizes the fact that many of the expenses associated with adopting children with special needs show up after an adoption is finalized.

If you would like to learn more and advocate for continuing the adoption tax credit, please visit http://adoptiontaxcredit.org/advocate/