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Foreign Earned Income - Exclusion and Foreign Tax Credit (or Deduction)
1
If you received foreign income, you must report it on your individual income tax return. IRS Form 2555 Foreign Earned Income, Form 1116 Foreign Tax Credit, or Schedule A (Form 1040) Itemized Deductions may provide income tax benefits. See the following for entering income or distributions from foreign entities: 

Form 2555
This form allows an exclusion of up to $130,000 (2025 amount) 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 (and meet either the Bona fide residence test, or the Physical presence test). 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. To enter Form 2555 information in the TaxAct program, follow the steps below. The exclusion amount will appear as a negative number on Schedule 1.

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.

Online
Dashboard
  1. From within your TaxAct return, click Income. 
    • On smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then make your selection.
  2. Click the Explore More drop-down.
  3. Click Add beside Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. 
  4. Complete the rest of the interview process. 
Classic
  1. From within your TaxAct return, click Federal. 
    • On smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then make your selection.
  2. Click the Other Income drop-down, then click Foreign earned income exclusions.
  3. Complete the rest of the interview process. 
Desktop
  1. From within your TaxAct return, click Federal. 
  2. Click the Other Income drop-down, then click Foreign earned income exclusions.
  3. Complete the rest of the interview process. 
Form 1116
This form is used to claim a credit for foreign taxes paid. To enter information for Form 1116 in the TaxAct program, follow the steps below. The credit is limited by your tax liability.

Online
Dashboard
  1. From within your TaxAct return, click Deductions & Credits. 
    • On smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then make your selection.
  2. Click the Estimates & Other Taxes Paid drop-down.
  3. Click Add beside Foreign Tax Credit. 
  4. Complete the rest of the interview process. 
Classic
  1. From within your TaxAct return, click Federal. 
    • On smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then make your selection.
  2. Click the Other Credits drop-down, then click Foreign tax credit.
  3. Complete the rest of the interview process. 
Desktop
  1. From within your TaxAct return, click Federal. 
  2. Click the Other Credits drop-down, then click Foreign tax credit.
  3. Complete the rest of the interview process. 
 
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.

Schedule A (Form 1040)
This form is used to claim various itemized deductions, including a foreign income tax deduction. To claim a deduction of foreign taxes paid on Schedule A, follow the steps below. The deduction will appear on Schedule A, Line 6 and will be added to your total itemized deductions on Form 1040, Line 9.

Online
Dashboard
  1. From within your TaxAct return, click Deductions & Credits. 
    • On smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then make your selection.
  2. Click the Estimates & Other Taxes Paid drop-down.
  3. Click Add beside Deductible Taxes Paid. 
  4. Complete the rest of the interview process. 
Classic
  1. From within your TaxAct return, click Federal. 
    • On smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then make your selection.
  2. Click the Itemized or Standard Deductions drop-down, then click Taxes paid.
  3. On the screen Enter any other deductible taxes paid in 20YY, enter a description for the Type of tax, enter the foreign tax deduction Amount paid.
  4. Complete the rest of the interview process. 
Desktop
  1. From within your TaxAct return, click Federal. 
  2. Click the Itemized or Standard Deductions drop-down, then click Taxes paid.
  3. On the screen Enter any other deductible taxes paid in 20YY, enter a description for the Type of tax, enter the foreign tax deduction Amount paid.
  4. Complete the rest of the interview process. 
Note. You may use Form 2555 and Form 1116 on the same return but cannot use the same income (and taxes paid relating to that income) on both forms. For example, if your foreign earned income is $140,900, you can only exclude foreign earned income up to $130,000 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 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 get a deduction.

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

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