Dear Reader: With Adoption Awareness Month set for November, we’re posting this in support of the movement and to benefit all those choosing adoption.
Save the Adoption Tax Credit is an effort of the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group—a collaboration of 139 adoption and child welfare organizations dedicated to preserving tax credits for families choosing adoption. What follows is a portion of the letter sent earlier this year to interested individuals, organizations and families.
Dear Colleague:
We are contacting you today to ask you to join with others in the adoption community to try to save the adoption tax credit from extinction. As you know, the adoption tax credit is due to “sunset” at the end of this year unless Congress and the Administration act. In February the President proposed making the adoption tax credit permanent in the budget he submitted to Congress for fiscal year 2013. A bipartisan group of members of Congress also support making it permanent, but its fate is uncertain.
To ensure there is one strong, unified voice in support of the continuation and enhancement of the adoption tax credit, a group of adoption and foster care organizations have come together to form a national advocacy coalition, the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group. We are launching an effort called Save the Adoption Credit, and we want your organization to take part.
The mission and priorities of the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group are as follows:
Mission: The Adoption Tax Credit Working Group is a national collaboration of organizations and individuals uniting to support the cause of adoption by advocating for the adoption tax credit. We believe the adoption tax credit is an important resource to help children find forever families and make adoption affordable for all.
Priorities: The Adoption Tax Credit Working Group’s specific priorities are 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.
Give families who adopt the credit they deserve. www.adoptiontaxcredit.org
The Adoption Tax Credit Working Group is a national collaboration of organizations and individuals uniting to support the cause of adoption by advocating for the adoption tax credit. We believe the adoption tax credit is an important resource to help children find forever families and make adoption affordable for all.
311 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002 • info@adoptiontaxcredit.org • http://www.facebook.com/AdoptionTaxCredit