FILE PHOTO: Photo by Austin Lowman on Unsplash
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Blake Moore has introduced bipartisan legislation into the 118th Congress to help foster children find permanent homes through adoption.
“Even before joining Congress,” Moore said, “I have been committed to supporting and engaging with the adopting community in Utah.
“In learning more about their priorities and challenges,” he added, “it is clear that many families cannot adopt due to financial challenges.”
House Resolution 3662 (the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2023) would help families offset some of the cost of adoption – especially for children with special needs – by making the current adoption tax credit fully refundable, thus reducing income as a barrier to adoption.
Moore’s staff members in Washington explain that the current tax credit disadvantages low- and middle-income families seeking to adopt. That’s particularly true of families with annual income between $30,000 and $50,000.
That inequity is problematic, given that approximately half of all children now living in foster care reside with families with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
During the Recession of 2008, Congress made the Adoption Tax Credit fully refundable, recognizing that economic hardship could prevent families for adopting by exacting a heavy financial tool on them.
However, officials of the National Council for Adoption explain that, under current federal income tax codes, the adoption tax credit is a non-refundable credit.
A non-refundable credit is subtracted from families’ tax liability up to the total amount owed. Unlike a refundable tax credit, a non-refundable credit cannot reduce tax liability beyond zero, thus guaranteeing a higher tax refund amount.
The non-refundable tax credit for adoptions helps many families, but could help many more adoptive parents if it were refundable, according to NCFA officials.
With the cost of adoptions continuing to rise and thousands of children in the U.S. and around the world in need of permanent families, the NCFA is committed to advocating for legislation like H.R. 3662 that offers meaningful resources to overcome the financial barriers to adoption.
“This bipartisan bill will make the adoption tax credit fully refundable again so that low- and middle-income families can receive the full value of the credit,” Moore said, “making it easier for them to open their homes to children in need of forever families.”
During his freshman term in Congress from 2021 to 2022, Moore has been particularly successful in enlisting the support of Democrats to pass legislation aimed at less than hot-button issues.
The co-sponsors of H.R. 3662 include Representatives Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Don Bacon (R-NE) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA).
The Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2023 is already supported by many child advocacy groups here in Utah, including the Children’s Service Society of Utah and Forever Bound Adoption.
National organizations that have also endorsed the bill include the National Conference of Bishops; 103 members of the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group; the Academy of Adopted and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys; the Child Welfare League of America; the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption; Generations United; the National Council for Adoption; the National Foster Parent Association; the North American Council on Adoptable Children; the Voices for Adoption; and Youth Villages.
“I am proud to lead the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act in the House as we seek to alleviate these (financial) hurdles,” Moore said.
“This vital legislation holds the power to help transform the lives of countless children and families … With this bill, we can pave the way for more children who have already suffered much to find permanent homes.”