[joublin]

I have a question for anyone who brought their baby home near the end of the year on an IR-4 Visa. We WILL have to readopt in our state and I know that the IRS code on the adoption tax credit is open for interpretation. What about claiming your child as a dependent and/or claiming them for the child tax credit. I know that an adopted child is treated "as your own child" according to the IRS, but there are special rules for adopted children that I haven't totally looked in to yet. Just wondering what others have done. In all likelihood, we will not have time to the the readopt before the end of the year.

On a related note, are you able to get a SSN or some kind of tax ID number in order to file your taxes?

Thanks in advance for the information. Just trying to do some year-end planning

[Guatemomtobe]

Good question. I am wondering the same thing about the child tax credit if you don't have time to get the SS# before filing taxes.

[jillbee]

Two years ago when we brought Maria home, we did not get her SSN before we needed to file our income taxes. Instead we applied for an ATIN (adoption tax id number) that was used on our form in place of her SSN for the first year.

Sorry, this pharmacist doesn't know the rules for when you can claim the child as a dependant. Any accountants? Wasn't there a thread on this maybe 8 weeks ago or so? Maybe it's my imagination!

Jill

[Maria'sMom]

I was just researching this about a week ago. I also called the IRS to confirm. Here is what I found:

If you do not have a SSN by the time you do your taxes (this obviously only applies if your son or daughter becomes legally yours at the very end of the year), you can not claim him/her on your taxes at that time -- you must submit your taxes without adding him/her (and without claiming the adoption credit) and THEN FILE AN AMENDMENT once you have the SSN. The amendment will have the adoption credit as well as the dependent deduction. You should NOT file for a TIN (Temporary Identification Number) because these are meant for people who will never be eligible for a SSN (e.g., non-residents of the US). (Note: I know Jill mentioned this is what she did -- maybe the TIN rules have changed??? ). Since your son/daughter WILL have a SSN, but just not yet, a TIN would not work. But hopefully, if your child is legally yours in 2006, you can get the SSN by April 15th. (Yah, I know! ) I am not sure how the IR-4 re-adoption factors into this, though (sorry, I only researched IR-3).

As for the "legally yours" part -- the U.S. will recognize your child as being legally your dependent once the adoption decree is finalized in Guatemala and will be eligible for the adoption credit. That means that even if your child is not physically home with you, but the adoption is final (e.g., waiting on Pink) in 2006, you can claim him/her on your 2006 taxes and also get the adoption credit (if applicable). I am not sure if this is just for IR-3's though -- it is late and I can't remember at the moment!

I am not an accountant and I am only writing what I learned after reading the IRS publications and speaking with an IRS representative. Please correct me if any of this information is not accurate.

HTH!

[DPline]

Getting a Social Security number is really pretty easy so you shouldn't have a problem getting it quite quickly. A couple weeks for it to arrive at most. And for you to claim your child for 2006 (if it is possible) they would have to be home by Dec. 31, 2006, and you would have until April 2007 to get the number. If your child came home on an IR4, you will eventually have to go back and change their status from resident alian, to citizen (and change their name if you do a name change) but that is very simple.

As far as claiming them if they came home on an IR4 and you have not readopted yet, there have been a million threads on this, and there never seems to be a concencus as to whether you can or can't. The code seems to be VERY "open to interpretation."

[hopin4ababy]

Our child wasn't home at the end of the year, so we couldn't claim her as a dependant (if she lives with you any time in 2006, you can), but we did take the tax credit because her adoption was final in Guatemala in December. If you go to the Social Security office in person, you can apply and then go back in 2 days and pick the number up (they won't have the card, just give you the number). That is what you need to file the taxes. We came home on an IR-4 visa and had no problems with anything. Mine, too, is personal experience and what I interpreted....but I am also not an accountant. Ali

[churchvillemom]

I believe the answer to this question is state dependant. In Virginia, we were not able to get a SS# before doing taxes (actually don't have it yet because the readoption process couldn't be started in the court system until 6 months post bring our son home and the subsequent paperwork is taking a while to be done). So, we filed a W-7 (or W-7A?) for an temporary tax ID number. We had to have the temporary ID number to send in with our taxes to the IRS. It took about a month for us to get the temporary ID number, we sent it in when we filed our taxes and had no problems getting the tax credit or claiming our son as a dependent.
Hope that helps!

[egrace]

Also it's my understanding if you child comes home on an IR4 you cannot claim the tax credit until you do readopt.

egrace

[widgit]

When we filed taxes this spring, we filed a form called W7-A and got an ATIN (Adoption Temporary Identification Number). We were able to use that number and claimed both kids as dependents.

The form does not specifically say to include a copy of the child's permanent residency card, but you must do so.

Even before readoption you can go to your local SS office and get a number, but you will need to go back and file for a change of status and name change after the readoption is complete. Therefore, we decided to just use the ATIN. After HOURS and HOURS on the phone with the IRS we finally got it done. May I recommend hiring a professional?