A person who has incurred expenses to adopt a child may request the refundable tax credit for adoption expenses. If the person has adopted more than one child, he or she may request the tax credit for each child.
The tax credit is equivalent to 50% of the adoption expenses that give rise to entitlement to the credit, up to a maximum of $10,000 per child.
To entitle the applicant to the tax credit, the adoption expenses must be paid after the ministre de la Santé et des Services sociaux or an agency certified by the Ministère has opened an adoption file.
In particular, the following expenses give rise to entitlement to the tax credit:
- administrative, legal or extrajudicial expenses paid to obtain one of the following documents;
- a document that attests the adoption judgment that establishes a relationship between the adoptive parent and the child and that was rendered by a court exercising its territorial jurisdiction in Québec,
- a document that attests the adoption decision rendered outside Québec that is subject to judicial recognition in Québec,
- a certificate of conformity in respect of the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption that has been brought to the attention of the Directeur de l'état civil by the ministre de la Santé et des Services sociaux or the clerk of the Court of Québec;
- the cost of translating documents pertaining to the adoption, if necessary;
- the child’s travel expenses to reach the adoptive parent’s home;
- the adoptive parent’s travel and living expenses in respect of travel necessitated by the adoption process;
- the travel expenses of the child’s escort if the adoptive parent did not accompany the child;
- the fees levied by an agency certified by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux;
- the fees levied by a foreign organization that cared for the child;
- the cost the adoptive parent’s psychosocial assessment;
- the expenses stemming from a requirement imposed by a government authority when the child was adopted, such as fees paid to obtain a foreign passport for the child or to satisfy certain requirements of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (opening a file, medical examination, etc.).
Note
No expense may give rise to entitlement to both the tax credit for medical expenses and the tax credit for adoption expenses.
Clientele
Anyone who has incurred expenses to adopt a child.
Conditions
To be entitled to the refundable tax credit for adoption expenses, the applicant must:
- have resided in Québec on December 31 of the taxation year in respect of which the tax credit is requested (in the case of a deceased person, the latter must have resided in Québec on the day of death);
- have received, during the taxation year in respect of which the tax credit is requested, one of the following documents:
- a document that attests the adoption judgment that establishes a relationship between the adoptive parent and the child and that was rendered by a court exercising its territorial jurisdiction in Québec;
- a document that attests the adoption decision rendered outside Québec that is subject to judicial recognition in Québec;
- a certificate of conformity in respect of the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption that has been brought to the attention of the Directeur de l'état civil by the Ministre de la Santé et des Services sociaux or the clerk of the Court of Québec.
The tax credit for adoption expenses was implemented in 1994.
It applies to final adoption judgments rendered after December 31, 1993 or, as the case may be, to registrations with the Court of Québec effected after that date.
