We have very exciting news for adoption advocates in Indiana. The Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, yesterday signed into law Indiana’s first adoption tax credit, stating, “the bills I sign … will enhance the quality of life for Hoosier families today and tomorrow.”
It has been very exciting to watch the Indiana adoption tax credit’s journey this legislative session. From its infancy in the Indiana House, where MLJ Adoptions’ CEO Michele L. Jackson testified in support of the Indiana adoption tax credit, speaking to the transformative effects of adoption and the financial issues many adoptive families face, to its passage in the Indiana House and Indiana Senate, and to its final advancement to the desk of Governor Pence.
Beginning taxable year 2015, for families eligible to claim the federal adoption tax credit, the bill creates a nonrefundable tax credit of $1,000 per eligible child or the amount of the credit allowable per the federal adoption tax credit for each eligible child on an individual’s federal return multiplied by ten percent, whichever amount is lesser. Additionally, the bill establishes a legislative adoption study committee; the committee will examine effective adoption programs in other states and study the legal and regulatory costs associated with foster care and private adoption in Indiana. Prior to November of this year, based upon its findings, the committee will make recommendations concerning improving adoption programs in Indiana and report its findings and recommendations to Governor Pence and the Indiana Department of Child Services.
The Indiana adoption tax credit is a valuable benefit to adoptive families and can help ease the financial burden adoptive families undertake to provide loving, permanent families for children in need.
For more information about international adoption click, here.
Photo credit: @GovPenceIN
Liane Steffes, JD
Liane Steffes, JD is an adoption attorney and serves as MLJ Adoptions’ Chief of Staff. Ms. Steffes earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and was admitted to the Indiana Bar in 2013. She is thankful for the opportunity to serve children in need of loving, permanent, and secure families.
Liane Steffes, JD
Liane Steffes, JD is an adoption attorney and serves as MLJ Adoptions’ Chief of Staff. Ms. Steffes earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and was admitted to the Indiana Bar in 2013. She is thankful for the opportunity to serve children in need of loving, permanent, and secure families.