Adoption tax credit 2026: $17,670, partly refundable

The 2026 numbers

Per child, not per year.

The 2026 figures are from Revenue Procedure 2025-32; the 2025 ones from IRS Tax Topic 607. The limit applies to each adoption, not each year: if you claim expenses for the same child over two years, earlier credits come off what is left.

The refundable part

New since 2025.

Section 70402 of Public Law 119-21 made part of the credit refundable for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024: up to $5,000 per child, indexed for inflation, which makes it $5,120 for 2026. A refundable credit can be paid to you even when it is more than the tax you owe. The remainder is nonrefundable: it can only reduce tax, and unused amounts carry forward for up to five years, after which they are forfeited. The IRS adds one restriction: credit carried forward from earlier years cannot be used to figure the refundable portion.

Who qualifies, and which costs count

An eligible child and reasonable, necessary expenses.

An eligible child is under 18, or physically or mentally incapable of self-care. Married couples generally must file jointly. The credit covers domestic, international, private, and public foster care adoptions. You cannot claim it for adopting your spouse’s child.

Qualified expenses are reasonable and necessary costs of the legal adoption: adoption fees, attorney fees, court costs, travel including meals and lodging while away from home, and expenses before a child is identified, such as a home study. Expenses do not qualify if they are for a surrogate parenting arrangement, allowed under another federal credit or deduction, paid by a government program, or reimbursed by your employer.

When to claim

The year depends on the kind of adoption.

• Domestic, finalized: claim expenses in the year you pay them.
• Domestic, still in progress: claim expenses the year after you pay them. For a child who is a U.S. citizen or resident, you may claim even if the adoption is unsuccessful.
• Foreign adoptions: claim only once the adoption is final, including expenses paid in earlier years.
• Special needs: claim when the adoption is final, even with no qualified expenses.

File Form 8839 with your return. The child’s identifying number can be a Social Security number, an individual taxpayer identification number, or an adoption taxpayer identification number obtained with Form W-7A.

Special needs adoptions

The full credit without having to show expenses.

For the credit, a child has special needs when a state or Indian tribal government has determined that the child cannot or should not be returned to the parents’ home and is not likely to be adopted without assistance to the adoptive family, and the child is a U.S. citizen. The 2025 law added tribal government determinations. Acceptable documentation includes an adoption assistance or subsidy agreement, a certification from a state, county, or tribal welfare agency, or an official letter confirming the determination. For a special needs adoption, Revenue Procedure 2025-32 sets the 2026 credit at $17,670, and Tax Topic 607 says you may claim the full credit even if you did not pay any qualified expenses.

If your employer helps

Exclusion first, then the credit, never for the same dollars.

Adoption benefits paid under an employer’s written adoption assistance program can be excluded from income, up to the same per-child limit, and appear on Form W-2, box 12, code T. You can use both the exclusion and the credit, but not for the same expenses, and the exclusion is figured first on Part III of Form 8839. In the IRS example, a family that paid $10,000 and was reimbursed $4,000 excludes the $4,000 and can claim a credit on the other $6,000. For the other family credits that changed in 2026, see the child and dependent care credit.