GREAT NEWS!!! On
April 17, Iowa Representative Braley introduced a bill to renew and expand the
adoption tax credit. Now the bill needs
more representatives to sponsor the bill and vote yes. This is where we need your help. It only takes a few minutes to send your US
House Representative an email. This
could help give more orphans chances to become part of a forever family.
Click here https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
to find your rep by entering your zip code and then type a quick email to him
or her. I have provided a short sample
email here.
Good afternoon Representative __________,
I am contacting you today to request your support of the
"Making Adoption Affordable Act of 2012" bill. Please join me in advocating on behalf of
orphaned and vulnerable children by co-sponsoring and supporting this
bill.
Sincerely,
For the full text of the proposed bill, see here http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr4373/text.
Here is a short summary:
The Making Adoption Affordable
Act expands and maintains the tax credits for families who choose to adopt
children. These credits help defray the
high administrative costs sometimes associated with adoptions and ensure that
families who choose to open their homes to children and are otherwise able to
raise a child as their own are not turned away because of the high cost of the
process. Preserving and expanding these
tax credits has been a bipartisan policy of both the Bush and Obama administrations.
The Making Adoption Affordable
Act:
1. Permanently
expands the Adoption Tax Credit
a.
Provides up to $13,360 for covered adoption
expenses, adjusted for inflation
b.
Without extension, credit will fall to $6,000
for special-needs adoptions only
2. Maintains
the higher income tax exclusion of employer provided adoption assistance
3. Preserves
the policy of excluding up to $13,360 in employer provided adoption assistance
from tax considerations. Annually adjusts the threshold for inflation
4. Income
Tax exclusion of adoption benefits have been expanded and supported by the Bush
and Obama administrations.
5. Makes
permanent the higher-income phase-out of the credit, adjusted for inflation
a.
Families with income in excess of $185,210
receive a reduced credit
b.
Credit reduced by the ratio of income in excess
of $185,210 to $40,000
c.
Income phase out thresholds set by the 2001 Bush
tax cuts, and extended by the Obama tax cuts
d.
Without extension, the credit will begin phasing
out for families with incomes over $75,000, and will not provide any benefit to
families making over $115,000.
6. Permanently
makes the credit refundable
a.
Allows families to receive a tax refund on the
credit in excess of their tax liability
b.
Without extension, credit can reduce a family’s
tax liability to nothing but any excess credit cannot be taken as a tax refund.
