[HeadOfHousehold]

My concern is this: We are just starting the adoption process and gathering all of our financial info. I, like many self employed people may not have been totally honest when filing taxs, so my bank statements may reflect a little more income then I reported.

My question is how in-debth is the financial research, and who does it? My taxs for 2004 are in perfect order but a couple years previous they weren't.

Please advise

[kllee4]

First, congratulations on your business! I am also self-employed and although we are pursuing a domestic adoption, I don't think that it will be inspected too closely. The good thing working in your favor is that your income may be less since it will be drastically reduced by your expenses. This is a downside when going for a loan, however, since it actually looks as though you make significantly less than you actually are since the deductions (expenses and overhead) are included after the reported income. If you're concerned about it waving a red flag with the IRS, I would seriously doubt it unless there were some grave discrepancies.

I hope this helps and good luck with everything!

[DianeS]

You "may not have been totally honest"?

Well, if that means you weren't honest, go back and file an amended report with the IRS. Much better to do that than chance it getting noticed, and chance ruining your possibilities for adoption.

If it means you're not sure if they were over or under or exactly correct, you can get an accountant to go over them to become sure.

It's definately worth some past-due tax and some penalties to be able to open your home to a child. There is ALWAYS the chance you'll get caught in any shortcut or lack of honesty, and not ever be able to have that happen, and I doubt you want to risk it.