[sak9645]

With all due respect to H&R Block, let me tell you that there are many tax preparers -- both individuals and people associated with large organizations -- who have had little or no contact with adoptive families and, consequently, have not really had to look at the adoption tax credit and how it works. Unfortunately, there are adoptive families who have been given all sorts of misinformation by these preparers.

So let me urge you to ask potential tax preparers -- before you have them do your work or pay them any money -- whether they have worked with adoptive families and are familiar with the Hope for Children Act, which increased the tax credit, and its implementation.

Let me also urge you to read the text of the law on Thomas, the website of Congress. Make sure that you are reading the final version of the act, which underwent many changes before it was finally passed. You may want to print out a copy to take to your tax preparer.

In addition, let me urge you to look at INS form 8839 and its instructions on your own, before the tax preparer does his/her work. You can download copies from the IRS website. You might want to try filling out the form and plugging in the numbers where they go on the 1040, just to form your own estimate of its implications for you.

Then, when you get the draft tax forms back from the preparer, please review them carefully. (It's something you should do in any case, as you will be signing the forms!) If there is something that doesn't seem right to you, ask about it. While it is possible that you may not have understood something correctly, it is also possible that the preparer may have made an error.

Sharon