You are correct. There is a tax treaty between the US and Germany, and you can take the Foreign Tax Credit to offsest the tax that you paid to Germany on your IRA. That's done on Form 1116.
Here's how to get to Form 1116 for 2020:
- Make sure you've entered all your foreign income.
- From within your return, search for foreign tax credit and select the Jump to link in the search results.
- Answer Yes to Did you pay foreign taxes in 2020 or have credits to use from a prior year?
- Follow the instructions to get the credit or deduction.
There's a deduction available as well as well as a credit but in most cases, taking the credit works out better. We'll help you decide which one's best for you when you go through this section.
If you choose to take the credit (most people do), we'll attach Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit if your situation requires it.
