HOUSE OF REPS/TAXES: “Social conservatives have urged House Republicans to retain a tax credit for families who adopt children in their tax overhaul bill, arguing the party shouldn’t gin up revenue at the expense of vulnerable children and the taxpayers who would give them homes.
The adoption tax credit is on the chopping block in the bill being debated this week in the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill’s drafters aim to significantly cut corporate taxes, compress individual income-tax brackets and eventually repeal the state tax, requiring them to offset those revenue losses by curtailing other tax breaks. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates repealing the adoption credit would raise $3.8 billion over a decade.
But adoption advocates argue the high initial costs of adopting a child, including legal fees and medical expenses, justify a special credit. The adoption credit—a one-time credit of up to $13,570 per child—is only available to those with incomes lower than $243,540. In 2015, 63,950 families used the credit, for an average refund of $3,925, according to Internal Revenue Service data. The total cost of the credit is $251 million…
The bill will raise the child tax credit to $1,600 per child from $500, a measure the bill’s authors say will aid all families, and provide other broad tax benefits.”
-Natalie Andrews, “House Bill Would Strip Adoption Tax Credit,” The Wall Street Journal online, Nov. 7, 2017 02:53pm