Adoption Tax Credit Changes

Here is some information on HR 1561 - Childhood Adoption Act of 2005.

HR 1561 was recently introduced by Congressman Harold Ford of Tennessee to increase the adoption tax credit to $15,000. The proposed Childhood Adoption Act will increase the adoption tax credit and exclusion that the federal government grants eligible taxpayers for certain expenses paid to adopt an eligible child from $10,000 to $15,000. The Childhood Adoption Act will also increase the adoption tax credit for children with special needs from $10,000 to $15,000. In addition, the Childhood Adoption Act will make the credit fully refundable in order to make the adoption tax credit more meaningful to people with lower incomes.

In addition, the Childhood Adoption Act will increase the total federal funds authorized for payment to states as adoption incentive payments for FY2006, FY 2007 and FY 2008 by $43 million per year (to a total of $86 million per year). In addition, the existing bonus payment structure for those years will be doubled across the board.

Congress has long supported adoption. The Childhood Adoption Act builds on the foundation created by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, the Hope for Children Act of 2001 and the Adoption Promotion.

If you support these changes, please contact your local Congressman and Senators and let them know. (Links to the Senate email and Congressional Email are at the link above.)