A Germantown couple brought a four-day-old baby into their home, becoming her foster parents. About two years later, they adopted her.
Throughout this time, they shared their daughter’s happiness, wit and charm, but they also spent quite a bit of money. Under Maryland law, they could only be reimbursed for one type of formula, which Zahara rejected. The money they received for day care and clothing was nowhere near what they actually spent for their daughter, who now is five and attends pre-kindergarten.
The family previously had fostered an 11-year-old and were not expecting a newborn. “We had to rush out to Target” to purchase many supplies, he said.
So Chris Jones and his wife, Courtney, decided to see if they could help other families who were willing to foster or adopt a child but couldn’t afford the expense.
“Chris contacted me as a constituent,” said former Maryland Delegate Krill Reznik, who currently serves in the Maryland Department of Human Services. “He thought it would be a great idea to increase the benefit to get more people to adopt.”
Reznik, along with other legislators, agreed that giving these parents a large tax credit wasn’t the way to go as it would be too large a burden on the state budget. However, the legislators supported an increase in the adoption tax deduction instead.
“It passed pretty easily. It was bipartisan,” Reznik told MCM.
The law that the Jones’ pushed enables a taxpayer who adopts a child to take a tax deduction of $10,000. If the child has special needs, the deduction is $12,000. It goes into effect July 1.
“I just decided we should be rewarding people who adopted,” Jones said.
