Adoption of foreign children

[taxit]

A couple came in today to drop off their 2008 tax return. They have 6 children 4 adopted. Two of the children are from Liberia. They came to the US in Feb 2008. They thought they would have the SS #'s by the end of 2008. The attorney kept saying just a little longer. It looks like they have a court date to finalize the adoption on Oct 14 2009. Is it possible to file form W-7 for an ITIN and have it in time to file the 1040 by Oct 15th. They did file an extension and paid in. They included the two children & planned on adoption credits. I told them the adoption credits won't be able to be used until 2009. I have very little experience with foreign adoptions and no idea how long an ITIN takes to be issued. Any ideas?

[Jake]

The form you may want to file is W-7A which is an application for an ATIN. You can use the ATIN to claim the dependancy exemption, the child tax credit and the adoption credit but not the EIC. I also learned that for 2008 an ATIN does not qualify a child as a dependent for the additional recovery rebate credit. Sometimes I recomend to clients that we wait until we get the SS# and then amend returns. Also keep in mind that with foreign adoptions it can take along time to get a SS# even after the adoption becomes final. I just amended three years worth of returns for an adoption that was final in 2006. I doubt that you would receive the ATIN by the 10/15 deadline.

Good Luck

[taxit]

The form you may want to file is W-7A which is an application for an ATIN. You can use the ATIN to claim the dependancy exemption, the child tax credit and the adoption credit but not the EIC. I also learned that for 2008 an ATIN does not qualify a child as a dependent for the additional recovery rebate credit. Sometimes I recomend to clients that we wait until we get the SS# and then amend returns. Also keep in mind that with foreign adoptions it can take along time to get a SS# even after the adoption becomes final. I just amended three years worth of returns for an adoption that was final in 2006. I doubt that you would receive the ATIN by the 10/15 deadline.

Good Luck

Thanks for the reply Jake. I thought I would need to use the W-7 since the children are foreign. So what happens if I paper file the return and write applied for in place of the ITIN/SS/ATIN.