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Renee,
Your 2K refund every year is irrelevant. Bear with me here.
You get this refund every year because you paid more to the government last year than you should have. Let's just say that you SHOULD have paid $6,000 last year, but your employer took out $8,000 during the year and sent it to the government. That's why you get $2,000 back. You paid more than you should have. The key number here is NOT the 2K number, it's the 6k number. THAT number is the amount of the credit that you can get back. In this case, you can use your credit to lower the amount that you SHOULD have paid from 6k, down to zero. Hence, now, instead of getting only 2k back (8k minus 6k), you get 8k back (8K minus zero). Your refund check is now bigger because of the credit.
Some people don't have enough taken out of their checks each month to cover their taxes. For instance, same situation, somebody that SHOULD have paid 6k might only have 5k taken out of their checks during the year. At tax time, they have to write a check for 1K and send it in with their taxes to make up the difference. However, this person still benefits from the tax credit just as much as you do. They ALSO get to use the credit to reduce the amount they should have paid down to zero. Now, not only do they not have to send that 1k check, but they also get a refund check for 5k. (a total benefit of 6k, just like you).
In Linny's case, her "problem" is that the amount she SHOULD have paid last year was zero, not 6k like you. She gets a refund for all of the money that was taken out of their checks last year because she should have paid zero to begin with, not because of anything to do with the adoption credit.
Just remember, the number of taxes that you SHOULD have paid last year is the key number (this number is listed on your tax forms as "Total Tax Due"). Figuring out this number is the #1 reason why you have to file your taxes with the IRS every April 15th in the first place. Once you figure out this number, the rest is easy. If you paid more than that number, you get a refund. If you paid less than this number, you have to send a check in with your taxes to make up the difference. When you add in the adoption credit, you either get to decrease this number by $10,000 or down to zero, (whichever is less), thereby increasing that refund that you were already getting!
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