If you received foreign income you must report it on your individual income tax return. However, IRS Form 2555 Foreign Earned Income, Form 1116 Foreign Tax Credit, or Schedule A (Form 1040) Itemized Deductions may provide income tax benefits.

• Foreign Earned Income - FEC
• Foreign Self-Employment Earnings
• Forms 1099-INT or 1099-DIV - Foreign Dividends and/or Interest Received
• Foreign Income - Foreign Pension or Social Security

Form 2555

This form allows an exclusion of up to $107,600 of your foreign earned income if you are a U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident alien living and working in a foreign country. All foreign earned income (for the individual taxpayer) should be combined on to one Form 2555. Up to two Forms 2555 can be e-filed per return, one for each taxpayer.

Note. Once you choose to exclude your foreign earned income, that choice remains in effect for that year and all later years unless you revoke it.

To enter information in the TaxAct program for taking the foreign earned income exclusion on Form 2555:

1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal. On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then click Federal.
2. Click Other Income in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand, then click Foreign earned income exclusions.
3. Click + Add Form 2555 to create a new copy of the form or click Edit to review a form already created.
4. Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.

The exclusion amount will appear as a negative number on Schedule 1 (Form 1040 or 1040-SR) Additional Income and Adjustments to Income, Line 9.

Form 1116

This form is used to claim a credit for foreign taxes paid.

To enter information in the TaxAct program for taking a credit for foreign taxes paid on Form 1116:

1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal. On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then click Federal.
2. Click Other Credits in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand, then click Foreign tax credit.
3. Click Review on the "Manual Input Worksheet" row, then continue to proceed with the program interview questions.
4. On the screen titled Foreign Tax Credit - Manually Entered Worksheets, click + Add Form 1116 Worksheet to create a new copy of the form or click Edit to review a form already created.
5. Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.

While entering information for each of the different categories of foreign income that apply to your situation, there will be a screen titled Foreign Tax Credit - Manual Entry - Additional Entries where you can check each item that applies in your situation. On the following screen(s), you will be able to enter descriptions and amounts.

Additional information may need to be entered on Form 1116 (i.e. country of residence, alternative basis related to income source, amount of income from all sources, lump-sum distributions, foreign audit, boycott entry, etc.). Please use steps 1 and 2 above, then click Review on the Additional Info Worksheet row to access these interview screens.

The credit will be limited by your tax liability.

Schedule A (Form 1040)

This form is used to claim various itemized deductions, including a foreign income tax deduction.

To enter information in the TaxAct program for taking a deduction of foreign taxes paid on Schedule A:

1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal. On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then click Federal.
2. Click Itemized or Standard Deductions in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand, then click Taxes paid.
3. Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.
4. On the screen titled Enter any other deductible taxes paid in 2020, enter a description for the Type of tax, enter the foreign tax deduction Amount paid, then click Continue.

The deduction will appear on Schedule A, Line 6 and will be added to your total itemized deductions on Form 1040, Line 9.

Note. You may use Form 2555 and Form 1116 on the same return, but cannot use the same earnings (and taxes paid relating to those earnings) on both forms. For example, if your foreign earned income is $120,900, you can only exclude foreign earned income up to $107,600 on the Form 2555 which will reduce your taxable income on the return. The remaining foreign earned income may be used on Form 1116. You would need to determine which amount of the foreign taxes paid are allocable to the balance and only use this portion of the foreign taxes in the calculations on Form 1116.

On the other hand, if you would like to claim a foreign tax deduction instead of the foreign tax credit, then you would use Schedule A (Form 1040) instead of Form 1116.

Note. IRS Publication 514 Foreign Tax Credit for Individuals specifically states "As a general rule, you must choose to take either a credit or a deduction for all qualified foreign taxes." This means you cannot take a foreign tax credit and deduction on the same return. To clarify, you can use Form 2555 and Form 1116 on the same return, and you can use Form 2555 and Schedule A (Form 1040) on the same return; however, if you claim a deduction you cannot claim a credit and if you claim a credit, you cannot claim a deduction.

An exception to this rule is if you have foreign taxes other than income taxes (e.g. real and personal property taxes). Those foreign taxes are claimed as a deduction on different lines of Schedule A (Form 1040). Only in this instance would you be able to claim a foreign tax credit and take a deduction.

Generally, it is more beneficial to claim foreign taxes paid as a credit rather than claiming a deduction. You may wish to do a comparison to determine which is best in your situation.

Related Links

• IRS Publication 54 Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad

Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the document at the time it is accessed.