S 1458 — Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2025

Summary

This bill makes the adoption tax credit refundable, meaning that if the credit exceeds a taxpayer's tax liability, the excess amount will be refunded to the taxpayer rather than simply reducing their tax bill to zero. The bill reorganizes the Internal Revenue Code to move the adoption credit from the non-refundable credits section to the refundable credits section and makes corresponding technical amendments throughout the tax code. The bill requires the Treasury to develop a standardized third-party affidavit form to verify legal adoptions for purposes of claiming the credit. The changes apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2024, and include a transitional rule allowing taxpayers to claim any unused adoption credit carryforwards from prior years as a refundable credit in the first year the new law applies.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] (R-ND)

18 cosponsors

Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN)
Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] (R-WV)
Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL)
Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA)
Sen. Hawley, Josh [R-MO] (R-MO)
Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA)
Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ] (D-AZ)
Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME] (I-ME)
Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (D-MN)
Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK)
Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM)
Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR)
Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV] (D-NV)
Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC] (R-SC)
Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD)
Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA] (D-VA)
Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA)
Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] (R-MS)

Actions (2)

Apr 10, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. · senate
Apr 10, 2025 Introduced in Senate

Related bills (1)

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

Full text

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 10, 2025

Mr. Cramer (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Hawley, Mr. King, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Warren, Mr. Warner, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Rosen, and Mr. Kelly) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a refundable adoption tax credit.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2025”.

SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE ADOPTION TAX CREDIT.

(a) Credit Made Refundable.—

(1) Credit moved to subpart relating to refundable credits.—The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

(A) by redesignating section 23 as section 36C, and

(B) by moving section 36C (as so redesignated) from subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 to the location immediately before section 37 in subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1.

(2) Conforming amendments.—

(A) Section 25(e)(1)(C) of such Code is amended by striking “sections 23 and 25D” and inserting “section 25D”.

(B) Section 36C of such Code, as so redesignated, is amended—

(i) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by striking “(determined without regard to subsection

(c))”,

(ii) by striking subsection (c), and

(iii) by redesignating subsections (d) through (i) as subsections (c) through (h), respectively.

(C) Section 137 of such Code is amended—

(i) in subsection (d), by striking “section 23(d)” and inserting “section 36C(c)”, and

(ii) in subsection (e), by striking “subsections (e), (f), and (g) of section 23” and inserting “subsections (d), (e), and (f) of section 36C”.

(D) Section 1016(a)(26) of such Code is amended by striking “23(g)” and inserting “36C(f)”.

(E) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of such Code is amended by inserting “36C,” after “36B,”.

(F) The table of sections for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by striking the item relating to section 23.

(G) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting “36C,” after “36B,”.

(H) Paragraph (33) of section 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended by striking “section 23” and inserting “section 36C”.

(I) The table of sections for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 36B the following new item:

“Sec. 36C. Adoption expenses.”.

(b) Third-Party Affidavits.—Section 36C(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as redesignated and moved by subsection (a), is amended—

(1) by striking “such regulations” and inserting “such regulations and guidance”,

(2) by striking “including regulations which treat” and inserting “including regulations and guidance which—

“(1) treat”,

(3) by striking the period at the end and inserting “, and”, and

(4) by adding at the end the following:

“(2) provide for a standardized third-party affidavit for purposes of verifying a legal adoption—

“(A) of a type with respect to which qualified adoption expenses may be paid or incurred, or

“(B) involving a child with special needs for purposes of subsection (a)(3).”.

(c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.

(d) Transitional Rule To Treat Carryforward as Refundable Credit.— In the case of any excess described in section 23(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to any taxpayer for the taxable year which precedes the first taxable year to which the amendments made by this section apply, such excess shall be added to the credit allowable under section 36C(a) of such Code with respect to such taxpayer for such first taxable year. <all>

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