If you’ve recently adopted, or know anyone who has, this Canadian tax advice is for you, courtesy of Intuit (think: QuickTax.)

Here was the original reader-submitted question:
Q – Is there an adoption expenses tax credit? We adopted in 2009 and have paid various expenses to an adoption agency, are any of them tax deductible? Our adoption will be finalized in 2010.

And the answer, supplied by Caroline on the tax analyst team at Intuit. (Hi, Caroline!)
A – Yes, you can claim some of your expenses. Adoption expenses should be claimed in the tax year that includes the end of the adoption period. So if your adoption isn’t finalized until 2010, save all of your receipts and claim them in 2010. The CRA prints out a list of eligible expenses, which can be found here: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns300-350/313/lgbl-eng.html . The maximum tax credit for adoption expenses tends to increase every year so I can’t tell you exactly how much you might be able to claim in 2010. For reference, the 2009 adoption tax credit maximum is $10,909.

PS from Nancy: and ..Congratulations! And thanks for loving and parenting a new member of our global family!

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