Idaho lawmakers float tax breaks for IVF procedures

BOISE — Idaho lawmakers are hoping to put forth the idea for future action of offering a tax deduction on the costs related to using donated embryos for in vitro fertilization.

Rep. Brooke Green, D-Boise, and Rep. Jeff Ehlers, R-Meridian, introduced a draft bill Thursday that would expand the existing income tax deduction for adoption expenses to the expenses incurred in the process of acquiring and transferring a donated embryo that results in a live birth.

The representatives don’t plan to move forward with the bill this year.

“We just want to get it out there to the public and get some feedback and see if this idea has some traction,” Ehlers told members of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee on Thursday.

Green highlighted that her son was the result of IVF, and while she used her own embryos, she wanted to shine light on the process available to families whose embryos aren’t resulting in successful pregnancies to adopt donated embryos from another family who already went through the process.

“Through that process it became really apparent that there’s an opportunity here to, one, highlight this little-known program that you can go through, but also expand the affordability for folks who actually go adopt these embryos,” Green said.

The bill would deduct Idaho’s flat tax rate — reduced this year to 5.3% — on up to $10,000 of medical and legal expenses of the process, which result in a maximum deduction of $530.

Committee members largely supported the idea, although there were questions about if it should only be applied if the process resulted in a live birth.

Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg, said she didn’t necessarily think a family would be “swayed one way or the other about the decision to grow that family based on this deduction.”

“But what I do think this bill does is it sends a much-needed message about the importance of families,” Raybould said. “And that in Idaho, we are looking for avenues to help send out the message that we want to help families grow on their own terms, and to do so in a way that is respectful of those decisions that are made between spouses and that we are open to the reality that medical technology has changed over time.”

Another bill introduced this session — which similarly will not move forward this year — would have allowed for criminal homicide and battery charges to be pursued for the death or damage of an embryo, the Idaho Press previously reported.