[cborsa7]

I am looking for someone who knows where you can find supporting information on the State Tax Credit. I know a lot take this credit but our CPA said it is not for International, only special needs state adoptions and pointed me to the State website that verifies this. I'm looking for information that would include International adoptions. I find nothing on the state website to include International. I don't want to insist we amend our return for this and then have to pay back years down the road when they catch the mistake. Someone on the boards from another state just had this happen 4 years later. Here is what the state website say's:

A child is a child with special needs if all three of the
following statements are true:

The child was a citizen or resident of the United States or
its possessions at the time the adoption process began.

A state (including the District of Columbia) has determined
that the child cannot or should not be returned to his or
her parents’ home.

The state has determined that the child will not be adopted
unless assistance is provided to the adoptive parents.
Factors used by states to make this determination include:
A. The child's ethnic background and age,
B. Whether the child is a member of a minority
or sibling group, and
C. Whether the child has a medical condition or a
physical, mental, or emotional handicap

Can anyone lead me to anything different???
Thanks!!!

[cborsa7]

Bump..Bump

[Truthdefenders]

We have filled out the paperwork for it - but my husband did it all and I know nothing. We discovered Vannessa had special needs after she came home. We had to have our social worker fill out a form stating that she is a special needs child. We submitted the paperwork and I think we already got a reply stating that we were good to go. I'll try to ask my husband when he gets home tonight.

[cborsa7]

Thanks!
Apparently all kids from Guatemala qualify under the special needs program, but I can't find this information anywhere.
I'm looking for information that says International will qualify for the credit. The info I find online says they need to be a citizen or resident at the beginning of the adoption process, which would only allow domestic to qualify.

Thanks for your help!!

[Truthdefenders]

I'm not sure I can answer the "special needs" part of your question because our child, even though adopted from Guatemala, has a birth defect that makes her deaf in one ear with potential for complete hearing loss. I think this would qualify her regardless of her country of origin. However, I do remember hearing something about international adoptions as being classified as "special needs". It's really up to a social worker to declare your child as "special needs" for you to be able to claim the credit.

Here's what I did ... I contacted the MO Dept of Social Services, Children's Division (314-426-8420 is the St. Louis number). I talked with a nice woman named Monique who told me that I needed to fill out the MO-ATC form (available from the MO DOR website). I was to fill out only parts A-C and then sign it. Then, I was to take the form to the organization that did our homestudy (in our case, Missouri Baptist Children's Home) so that our social worker could certify that our daughter was "special needs". Hopefully, your social worker (or someone in their organization) will be familiar with this and will be able to determine if your child, just based on the fact that she is adopted from Guatemala, qualifies as "special needs". The social worker then signs part E of the form. I then sent the form to the Department of Social Services (9900 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132) for them to complete part D which basically certifies that no Social Services assistance was given to us for the adoption, because any assistance would reduce our qualified expenses. After part D is completed, the form is returned to you.

Now, here's the part that get's really confusing (which we have not completed yet). You must wait until July 1 of the year you file your taxes in order to claim the credit. So, we are planning ong claiming the credit for the 2008 tax year, which means we must wait until July 1, 2009 before submitting the MO-ATC form. We have to submit an amended MO tax return with the MO-ATC attached. You may also have to attach the misc. tax credit form (MO-TC, I think) as well. Then, you wouldn't see any distribution of funds until around March of the next year. The good news is that you get to continue to claim the credit for up to 4 (or 5?) years or until your maximum credit is reached. Unfortunately, you'll have to go through this same process of sending in amended returns on July 1 for each year you want to claim the credit.

So, I guess the first step is to get the MO-ATC form signed by your homestudy organization to certify your child as "special needs". I ended up calling the DOR and talking to someone about the credit and how to apply. They were pretty helpful. I also found some info (including the MO-ATC form) at Special Needs Adoption Tax Credit (ATC).

I hope this helps.

[cborsa7]

Julie,
Thanks so much for the information!

[au06]

I second what Julie says.
Be sure to keep a copy of the MO-ATC that everyone signs. I send the copy every year that I amend the return and don't want to hunt down signatures again. Monique is the person who signed our form as well because we live in St. Louis County. When we lived in St. Louis City for the first adoption we had to contact someone else. I can hunt up that name if you need it. I think who you contact depends on the county in which you live.
The check from the state usually comes in June of the year after the return is amended. I amended in July of 2008 (2007 tax year) so will get a check in June of 2009.

[JosieWales]

I need to add--we submitted our MO-ATC along w/our taxes, and did NOT resubmit after the above date...and we got our refund in a timely manner. We did this twice. The MO tax guy we talked to on the phone (I had questions this year about carryover) was amazed that we got the refund in a few wks the first year and assured me that wouldn't happen again on this year's carryover return--and it did. IDK if it'll happen for you all, but I hope so!

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Your child DOES QUALIFY AS SPECIAL NEEDS, bc he is a minority and adopted internationally from Guatemala. You DO get this tax credit. You just need someone from the state (Health and Home Services division, I think) to sign off on it. There's one in every county!