Brady: Adoption credit may be added back into tax bill

The adoption tax credit may still be added back into the GOP tax bill, the House’s top tax-writer said Tuesday.

“We’re having — absolutely we’re having these discussions,” Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “For me as a pro-life dad and my wife as a pro-life mom, we understand.”

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The credit is a one-time tax refund available for parents who adopt from foster care, internationally or through private domestic adoptions. It can be applied over the course of five years. For 2017, the federal adoption tax credit was $13,570.

An adoption can cost as much as $40,000 if a family uses a private agency, according to a survey from Adoptive Families Magazine.

Brady said the credit was removed because there aren’t very many families that are able to take advantage of it. He said more people would benefit under the proposed bill.

“This really is a debate between the old approach and a newer approach that can help more people,” Brady said.

“So we’re going to have the discussion in the Ways and Means Committee, and with Republicans on do we want to stick with the old credit … or do we go with the tax cuts that provide about $2,000 dollars a year, and the new family credit that helps you with your child every year of their life?”