Thank you for the info about the Treaty. I used the Treaty claim the first year but the 4852(?) requires you to mail file and that just killed me because my return is so many pages and then I had to mail file my three state returns too. I chose to report it as other income and take the Foreign tax credit, even though it was a little less favorable. It was nearly a wash when I figured in the cost of printing and mailing, not to mention the aggravation factor.
But the entire question of FTC vs deduction... can you explain some more? I understand the credits may go unused, which makes them worth zero. Would a deduction that's worth 40% (at most) is still be worth more? The next question is, would I need to itemize to get that? I am not sure I would have enough deductions to itemize instead of taking the standard $25k deduction.
in summary, no option is great.
1. don't claim the income (claim treaty) and have to mail file
2. get the FTC and probably never use it
3. take the deduction (way less $) IF I have enough to itemize
