Is it possible the calculation for adoption credit is broken? It says the max amount is 5k but my estimate went up much more.

[joshkeck13]

My estimated federal refund jumped up roughly 12k, when I was expecting 5k maximum for the adoption credit.

[AmyC]

The new $5k rule is to get a refundable portion after your tax liability is wiped out. You may have had a larger tax liability that was reduced so that you refund is higher. 

Follow these steps:

1. Take a look at your form 8839 and verify the numbers. 
2. Take a look at sch 3 line 6c for adoption credit.
3. Take a look at your 1040. Look at the tax on line 16. 
4. Now, look at line 20 for the credit from sch 3 to pull over. 
5. Any adoption credit left after wiping out your tax liability, moved down the 1040 to line 30 for a maximum of $5,000.

[AmeliesUncle]

If you look at line 2 of the Adoption Credit form (Form 8839), you'll see that the POTENTIAL maximum adoption credit is much, much higher than $5,000.