Building a family through adoption can quickly become very expensive. In 1996, the federal adoption tax credit was first introduced to allow families to deduct qualified adoption expenses from the total amount of taxes they owed. However, this tax credit is non-refundable, meaning that it can only be claimed by families with tax liability. Unfortunately, this generally excludes lower income families from receiving any benefit. In addition, income restrictions mean that families in high tax brackets may receive a reduced credit. Taxpayers who make more than $243,540 or more annually are not eligible to receive the credit, and phaseouts apply for taxpayers with a modified adjusted gross income over $203,540 per annum.