America World Adoption News

Adoption Tax Credit – Filing Your Federal Income Tax Return

With the approach of tax season, I’ve been asked several questions about the adoption tax credit. These answers may be helpful to you. Please feel free to give me (Les Gallagher) a phone call or send me an email if you have any questions. My phone number is 703-891-3282 and my email address is les.gallagher@awaa.org. You may also want to consult with a tax advisor.

• Adoption tax credit form: You will complete Form 8839 to claim an adoption tax credit. For more information please read IRS Topic 607- Adoption Tax Credit and Instructions for Form 8839 – Qualified Adoption Expenses.

• Documenting adoption costs: Your cancelled checks and credit card statements are the documents you’ll need in order to substantiate the amounts shown in your income tax return Form 8839 as deductions. Although you won’t include these with your tax return.

• Adoption order or decree: You will need to attach a copy of your adoption order or decree to your completed Form 8839. The adoption tax credit can be claimed in the year that your adoption is finalized.

• Adoption tax credit - amount: The adoption tax credit for 2012 is 12,650 per child, but is not refundable as it was in 2011 and 2010. A tax credit means that qualified adoption expenses will reduce your Federal income tax liability up to the entire amount of your income tax liability. (Refundable means that qualified adoption expenses will be fully reimbursed up to the limit by the IRS regardless of the amount of your Federal income tax liability.) Adoption tax credit amounts that remain unused in any year can be carried forward to reduce Federal income tax liability in subsequent years.

• Social Security number: Each child is required to have a social security number in order to qualify for the adoption tax credit.

• Special needs adoption: A special needs adoption is one in which the state or county child welfare agency has determined that the child is not likely to be adopted unless the government provides assistance to the adoptive family.

• Grants and donations: You will not include grants received from granting agencies or donations received from family and friends through the Eternal Family Program in your income. Likewise, the adoption costs that the grants and donations were used to pay for will be excluded from your qualified adoption costs in claiming the adoption tax credit.

Fundraising for Adoption: Embrace Social Media!

One of the number one reasons families are hesitant about diving into the adoption waters... Money. It is certainly not an inexpensive undertaking. The fees can turn hesitancy to fear!

We know these emotions well. We are freshly home (14 months) with our three Ethiopian beauties! Our two year journey to Joshua, Ruth and Dibora brought joy, heartache, love, and lots of check-writing!

As the adoption costs began to rise, we would continue to remind ourselves that God is the Father to the fatherless... and God is not a dead-beat Dad. Then we would take a big huge gulp and write the next check!

We began to see that the money-issue was actually a divine lesson in trust. We believed all the rich verses in the Bible about orphans and adoption. Yet, we were being put to the test: did we believe the verses about God as Provider?

Our encouragement to you... Watch God show off a little. Embrace the craziness of having to raise thousands and thousands (and thousands) of dollars. Embrace God being Father and Provider to your future children. He adores them and desires that they enjoy the beauty of family!

First lesson:

Get over the awkwardness of fundraising! You have kids to bring home and people that will partner with you to make "home" a reality for your future children. So, get to it!

First Fundraising Tip:

Embrace Social Media! There are lots of different opinions about status updates, tweeting and blogging. Keep this in mind: stories change lives! When you blog, tweet and update your status, you have a unique opportunity to tell your circle of influence (and all those who frequently RT) the inspiring story of God working. With each blog post, tweet or FB status you can tell people your story and invite them to join you. Many people are not called to adopt but would adore helping YOU on this journey! 

We tweeted this phrase each day: "Want to help an orphan become a Wanderer?"...along with an explanation of our latest fundraising idea.  Those fundraising ideas? We will cover some of those in our next blog post. :)

-- Ed & Susan Wanderer

Fundraising Facts, Tips & Tricks: A Series Introduction

Fundraising can seem like a daunting task to many.  Some have tried with minimal success, others don’t even know where to start, and still others don’t feel creative enough or sufficiently equipped to venture into raising money for their adoption process.

In a continuing effort to provide assistance to families who are seeking ways to help subsidize the cost of their adoption journey, I am excited to kick-off a blog series on ways to best utilize fundraising to aid you in your journey to bring your child(ren) home. 

This series will feature posts at least once a month by guest bloggers Ed & Susan Wanderer.  The Wanderers are an adoptive family that brought their three children home from Ethiopia in 2011 and maximized the effectiveness of a variety of fundraising methods to assist them during their journey.  They have a passion to advocate on behalf of orphans and help adopting families utilize all of the tools available to them.  Each month the Wanderers will share different ideas, efforts and grants available to adoptive families – some of which they themselves used on their own personal journey.

I pray that this series will be an encouragement to both families considering adoption as well as to those whom have already begun their journey to bring their children home!  Isn’t God good to allow for means by which families can overcome financial hurdles and grow in reliance upon Him!

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For…your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

-- Matthew 6:31-32

 

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development

Overcoming Financial Hurdles in Adoption

It's no secret that international adoption isn't cheap: there are agency fees, social service fees, orphanage fees, background checks, mountains of paperwork to get notorized, travel costs, etc., etc.  The bottom-line of adoption costs can certainly look daunting at first glance; however, I truly believe that finances are merely hurdles to be overcome in the adoption process, and not immovable boundaries.

America World is passionate about not letting money hinder families from pursuing something that they feel a calling toward.  Included in the Link section on our website is a list of grants and resources, titled Financing Adoption, that can assist any adopting family to cover thousands of dollars worth of costs during their journey to bring their precious child home.  While this list is certainly not all-inclusive, we hope that it provides a good starting point with trustworthy organizations that believe in the mission of caring for orphans in the form of adoption.

America World also reestablished our Eternal Familiy Program (EFP) in the beginning of 2011.  Through this fund, we invite family, friends and communities to care for specific adopting families, by supporting their adoptions through monetary gifts.  It is our hope that America World families take advantage of this oppportunity, not only to relieve some of the financial burden, but also to provide a way of inviting others to actively and practically participate in caring for orphans through their giving.

For more information on America World's EFP, feel free to contact me with any specific questions that you may have.

I pray that each and every family wrestling with the overall cost of adoption will consider these grants and programs as viable means by which they can overcome these hurdles.  

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. - 2 Corinthians 9:8

In Him,

Jason West, Director of Development