[lisah]

I really NEED to know if anyone who has adopted through the state has been affected by international adoptive families who have claimed the tax credit. I don't think it effects as many people as they say, but I thought I'd check with you all.

A poor mama who's about to lose her job and needs that credit.

[mckenna]

i was informed that the state tax credit would not be available but that the federal tax credit should not be affected.

[lisah]

Yes, the state credit is what I'm talking about. I need to know if that part affects folks adopting out of Missouri, not out of state or internationally, such as we did.

Thanks

[mckenna]

i am sorry, i don't understand what you are talking about. i will try to explain my experience. also you can call the adoption and foster care coalitiona at 1-800-foster-3 to get some answers.


i adopted in dec. i did not pay a penny, however i am eligable for the 10,000 federal adoption tax credit. with the state, there is a limit amount that they give each year and typically it is harder to get.

[lisah]

Here's the issue. A legislator is proposing to NOT make the state tax credit available to families who have adopted away from the state of Missouri or internationally, citing that we take money away from families who do adopt from within the state and if we're no longer eligible more families will adopt from within the state.

My feeling is if adoption's in your heart it's in your heart and whether you pursue this state or that or internationally, that's also within your heart. The tax credit has nothing to do with it. We do, however, plan to use ours to pay for our international adoption as we do not make enough to get the full federal credit and, of course, the costs of adopting exceeded those credits and wouldn't have stopped us, but I still think they're not seeing the full picture.

Lisa

[mckenna]

i am definatly not a tax expert, but i still don't understand where the problem is. for the federal tax credit, you cannot make too little money to qualify. i understand what you are saying and if the mo tax credit did not have a cap, i would say that anyone who adopt should be eligable, however, if there is a cap than those adopting mo children should be cosidered first.

sorry, i am so uneducated about the qualifications for the mo tax credit, but i would love to learn more.

[DianeS]

I think lisah is trying to say:

1- MO has a STATE tax credit they give to MO people who have adopted children - regardless of where the children came from.

2- MO is looking for a way to cut their own state expenses.

3-MO is considering limiting the STATE tax credit so that only people who adopt children in MO get the credit - people who adopt outside MO and bring the children to MO would *not* get the credit any more.

Is that what you're saying, lisah?

If so, then I am always personally disappointed when a benefit I counted on is no longer there. But I also consider tax credits to be a benefit that *won't* always be there! Tax rules and benefits change yearly, and it is not wise to base a future financial decision on them. It is a state's responsibility to spend their money wisely, and as long as the state is giving enough notice that adoptive parents can replan their budgets if necessary, then what they are doing is completely within reason.

Especially since most states have chosen to not give a state adoption credit at all, and that when they cut their budgets they cut the amount of money spent on children in state care. Between cutting out a tax credit and cutting out maintanence money for special needs kids - I'd vote for cutting the tax credit any day. But I wish it would come to neither. I would definately hope and pray that they would not change their rules without adequate notice - perhaps ending the credit next summer instead of this one.

[lisah]

Lifting the cap will probably go through this year as it is attached to another bill that will more than likely go through this time. I know you can't make too little, but if you don't make much, you also don't pay much into federal taxes and therefore, cannot get more than you pay back. Making middle-class families harder to adopt into.

[mckenna]

ok, i am understanding it more now. as far as the tax credit, you can use it over the next five years. i know i won't be able to use it all this year but should be able to in the next 5.

i also agree that if something has to be cut i would rather it be a adoption tax credit than assitance for foster children (especially the recent cuts to those aging out of the system).

[lisah]

Diane, I'm in agreeance with you. I would like to have notice. No we didn't count on this particular credit, knowing it was volital at the time, but our daughter was finalized in 2003 and we can now take it and we may not be able to. On top of that the state of MO is trying to outsource our jobs so I was counting on that money to be my supplemental income until I'm able to find employment after we're laid off.

However, my initial question, was do we international and out of Missouri state adoptive parents truly take away money from Missouri adoptive parents?


Government

[mckenna]

in my case, it was not available to me even though i adopted a child from mo in 2003. now whether or not that is because of international adoption, i don't know.

[DianeS]

lisah,

Well, all money that the state of MO gives out is taken from one pot of money - taxes make up the most of that money, and there's some federal funds thrown in, but all of it gets into one pot and is divvied up by the budget. In order for there to be money for one thing, it has to not be given to something else. Agreed?

To find the specific answer to your question, you'll need to ask some different questions in different areas:

First, find out if any foster parent in MO has had their foster children's monthly subsidy cut becasue the state "was out of money".

Then find out if any adoptive parent of a special needs MO child has had their monthly subsidy cut becasue the state was "out of money".

Also find out if anybody has been told that they were only getting part of the adoption tax credit they qualified for, because the state couldn't afford to give them the whole thing.

That will give you the specific information on whether anyone in MO has lost out on the credit because of other types of adoptions.


But in order to find out if MO adoptions will be able to receive their full funding in the future if international adoption benefits are cut:

Find out if the budgeted amount for adoption tax credits will remain the same, or if the money they save by not reimbursing international adoptions is just going to go somewhere else instead of to MO adoptions.

Find out how many MO adoptions there were last year, and how much higher they expect that number to go next year, and if the budgeted amount will be enough as long as international adoption benefits are cut.

I can probably assure you that there were close to a thousand MO children adopted out of foster care last year, if MO is anything like my own state. That's almost a thousand tax refunds, most costing the state the amount of the full refund. It amounts to a lot of money. Plus the kids who remain in foster care - between their daily needs plus education and medical, that amounts to several thousand dollars per kid per year. That's a huge budget. Money to fund it HAS to come from somewhere. Just like families who have to fund some extra medicine or school tutoring can't always afford to buy a new couch, then states who have to fund some extra foster or state adoption expenses can't always afford to give money to other kinds of adoptions.

The pot for adoption tax refunds is one pot - if there's not enough to go around then *someone* will be cut. Either everyone loses a little, or a few people lose everything.