There are certain requirements that must be present on a Form W-2 (or Form 1099-R), including the Employer Identification Number (for a Form W-2) or Payer's Federal Identification Number (for a Form 1099-R).  If the income is foreign income, and you did not actually receive a Form W-2 or Form 1099-R, then you should not fill out those forms in the program. You should instead complete the worksheet FEC Foreign Employer Compensation. This income will appear on Form 1040, Line 7 (if entered in the Foreign Employer's Compensation Amount field) or Form 1040, Line 16 (if entered in the Foreign Pension Received or Taxable Amount of Foreign Pension fields).

To enter foreign wages or foreign retirement income reported to a taxpayer by means other than a Form W-2 or Form 1099-R in the TaxACT program, follow the appropriate steps below.

Foreign Wages:

1. From within your TaxACT return (Online or Desktop), click on the Federal Q&A tab
2. Click Wages and Salaries to expand the category, then click Wages from a foreign employer - not reported on Form W-2
3. Click Add to create a new copy of the form or click Review to review a form already created
4. The program will proceed with the interview questions for you to enter or review the wage information. On the screen titled Foreign Employer Compensation and Pensions - Compensation or Pension, you are able to enter both the compensation and the pension amounts, so you would not have to go through another set of steps if you had both types of income. 

Foreign Retirement Income:

1. From within your TaxACT return (Online or Desktop), click on the Federal Q&A tab
2. Click Retirement Plan Income to expand the category, then click Foreign Pension Distributions
3. Click Add to create a new copy of the form or click Review to review a form already created
4. The program will proceed with the interview questions for you to enter or review the wage information.  On the screen titled Foreign Employer Compensation and Pensions - Compensation or Pension, you are able to enter both the compensation and the pension amounts, so you would not have to go through another set of steps if you had both types of income. 

The FEC worksheet is not an IRS form, but is a worksheet only in the TaxACT program used to collect the information and transfer it to the appropriate place on the return.  All information entered on the worksheet is transmitted with the return if it is electronically filed.  If the return is paper filed, there is no documentation required to be sent with the return.  The IRS will contact the taxpayer if they need any additional information on the amount entered on the return for foreign wages or foreign retirement income.  If you would still like to print the FEC worksheet to mail with the return, the following steps will allow you to do that.

1. Sign in to your TaxACT Online return
2. Click the My Return button in the top right corner
3. Click Print Center, and then click Custom Print
4. In the bottom section, check the box next to Federal Form 1040/1040NR FEC
5. Click the Print button and then click the PDF link. The item will appear in a PDF read-only format. At that time you can click the printer icon on the screen to actually print the worksheet, or close the window without printing.

NOTE: If, after you click Custom Print in Step 3 above, you see the message "No forms (or documents) available to print," you will need to click View/Pay your return fees which will bring you through the Paper Filing steps. Continue through those screens until you have processed the payment for your product fees. 

Related Links:

• Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and Foreign Tax Credit (or Deduction)