@umiboo , just wanted to close the loop with you .
I created a scenario with both parents having active foreign source income, having one child with un-earned income, parents required/choosing not include child's income of 20,000-- thus 8615 coming into play.
The parents' active income completely excluded under FEIE, plus passive income untaxed because of Foreign tax credit. Parents' did have SECA tax but it looked wrong ( I have not investigated why it looked so low --will do )
The child's return of 20,000 was taxed at parents' marginal rate using 8615.
I did not find the questions on the screens unusual --- since I had no Schedule-D or other items , I left these entry boxes blank ( could have placed zero but that is extra useless work ).
So I am left with the feeling that the on-line screens must be different from the windows H&B version or you would have had a easy time. My humble apologies for the inconvenience.
Is there more I can do for you ?
pk
