CFO Notes – Adoption Tax Deduction and Receipts

Tax season is here, and as you begin filing, please keep this in mind.

The primary source documents (i.e. receipts) to substantiate your adoption tax deduction are copies of your cancelled checks, bank statements and credit card statements. These documents should not be sent to the IRS when filing your tax return.  You only need to provide the IRS with a copy of the adoption decree along with Form 8839 at the time of filing.  However, if you are audited by the IRS, then you will need to send these documents to them.

At the time of an IRS audit, in the case where a family did not retain or is unable to obtain primary source documents, America World will provide a list of the payments the family made to AW in an attempt to satisfy the documentation requirements of the IRS.

You can also refer to your Welcome Home packet, the tax information section.

Please email me, Les Gallagher, if you have any further questions, or consult a tax professional.