Adoption Tax Credit 2017

Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national infertility & adoption education and support nonprofit, interviews: Josh Kroll, Adoption Subsidy Resource Center coordinator at NACAC; and Becky Wilmoth, an Adoption Tax Credit Specialist at Bills Tax Service. Click to listen to the free podcast!

 + Highlights of the show

  • When can you file for the Adoption Tax Credit: international, domestic (non-foster care), foster care.
  • If your adoption from foster care did not cost you anything, are you still eligible for the Adoption Tax Credit?
  • How to find out if the state considered my adopted child “special needs”?
  • Do I have to wait until all my expenses are totaled before claiming the Adoption Tax Credit on my taxes or if I spent a certain amount of money in one year, can I claim that the next year even if my adoption is not final?
  • Can I file my taxes as “head of household” if I became guardian of my child this year, but the adoption is not complete?
  • Are Embryo adoptions (embryo donations) allowed under the Adoption Tax Credit?
  • How are adoptions from foster care treated differently from other types of domestic adoptions under the Adoption Tax Credit?
  • How much is it the credit for 2017?
  • Can claim only once per adoption.
  • What is a “tax credit” and how best to use it?
  • Confusion over how much you owe in taxes vs. withholding and how much you have to pay or receive back if you had more withheld than you owe.
  • What is allowed to be included in the Adoption Tax Credit? What is considered a qualified adoption expense?
  • Are the fees paid for foster care when adopting from the Democratic Republic of Congo Adoptions while the child was waiting to leave the country able to be included as qualified adoption expenses funder the Adoption Tax Credit for the year(s) that the child was still in the DRC?
  • Are legally allowable birth mother expenses for domestic infant adoption allowed to be claimed as a qualified adoption expense under the Adoption Tax Credit?
  • Are travel expenses allowed to be claimed as a qualified adoption expense under the Adoption Tax Credit?
  • What are the income limits for the Adoption Tax Credit? How are bonuses handled?
  • What type of documentation do you need to have for the expenses you are claiming? Do you need to submit the documentation along with your taxes?
  • How long can your carry over the credit to best be able to make full utilization of it?
  • Can you claim expenses for a failed adoption?
  • If you do not have enough taxable income to take advantage of the Adoption Tax Credit, what can you do to show more taxable income and receive the carryover credits?
  • What happens with the Adoption Tax Credit if you complete two separate adoptions in one year? In two consecutive years?
  • Can you claim a child as a dependent on your taxes if the adoption has not been finalized?
  • Tips and tricks for claiming the Adoption Tax Credit.

This content was originally published by Creating a Family, the national adoption & infertility education nonprofit.

To find out more contact us at

212-400-8150 or email us at info@spence-chapin.org.