Tax Credit

Just got an email from our agency with the wonderful news that the tax credit was not just extended, it was signed into law! The email is below....

Lifeline Children's Services January 2013 Dear families,    We are very excited about the recent news that Congress has extended the Adoption Tax Credit.According to a media release from the National Council for Adoption, Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act which will become law once signed by President Obama. Included in this act was an extension of the adoption tax credit. Our Executive Director Herbie Newell sees the extension of the adoption tax credit as a victory for vulnerable children around the world: "While I certainly cannot speak for the entire 'Fiscal Cliff' bill that was signed into law by President Obama, the portion pertaining to the adoption tax credit was a huge victory for vulnerable children around the world and those American families called to provide them families. This piece of the legislation was organized by a truly grassroots campaign aimed at simply extending the adoption tax credit. The measure to make it permanent assures that foster children, orphans, and vulnerable children will have one barrier to a home, finances, alleviated."    Complete details of implementation of the bill are still to be seen, said the release, but the bill permanently extends the adoption tax credit currently set at $10,000. However, the amount may again be scaled for inflation, bringing it closer to the 2012 amount of $12,650. Families whose incomes fall under $150,000 will receive the full credit, and the credit will gradually phase out for families with higher incomes.   We are thrilled to share this news with you and hope you have a wonderful end to your week!

67

Our new number as of Jan.1, 2013

For those keeping track, that's a drop of 20 spaces over the last 3 months. This was not as much as we had hoped for, but it is more than we expected.

Now for the not so great news...to the best of our knowledge, the adoption tax credit was not extended. We knew this was a possibility, but are still disappointed. It doesn't change our adoption plans at all, as the credit would not have taken effect until after an adoption was final anyway. 

If extended, the credit would have been used to repay debt from the adoption. At this point, our debt is small and very manageable as we have been VERY diligent in savings and budgeting  and also because of generosity of family and friends. 

We are so excited about this new year and all that has to offer. 

Please continue to pray with us that:

1) our adoption fund will be full soon

2) lots of children will find their forever loving home

3) that we can be patient in God's timing