You can qualify for either or both the foreign earned income exclusion and foreign tax credit. You just cannot take foreign tax credit on the same income that is excluded using the foreign earned income exclusion. As the maximum exclusion is $107,600 for tax year 2020 and say your foreign income was $150,000 for year 2020, then you would have income left over that was not excluded to utilize foreign tax credits.
If you do not wish to take the foreign earned income and instead take only the foreign tax credit, you still need to enter your information into the foreign earned income exclusion section, up to the point that where the program asks you to see if you qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion. You need to tell the program that you do not qualify for the Bona fide residence test by putting in dates such as 2/21/20 to 10/21/20. As this is less than a year, the program will indicate the following:
You Don't Qualify
Based on you answers, you can't claim the foreign earned income exclusion.
However, you may qualify for the foreign tax credit.
We'll handle this later in the Deductions and Credits section.
Note: Form 2555 is about to be removed from your return but the foreign income you entered will NOT be removed.
A resource that my be of assistance is Publication 54 Tax Guide for US Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad on the IRS website.
