Income from stock / etf sales abroad

[ablonski]

where should I report my foreign income from investment accounts?

I know how to take tax credit but not sure where in the program to fill this income. Should I use:

1. interest and dividends -> foreign accounts -> it is saying to me that as my value is less thank 100k USD I don't need to fill

2. Less common income -> foreign earned income -> it seems it is related to employment

thanks

arek

[DavidD66 · Accepted solution]

You would report the same way you would report the sale of stock in the US, only you wont have a Form 1099-B to enter.  To do so in TurboTax, while logged in to your return,

• Click on Search
• In the Search Window type 1099-B
• Click on Jump to 1099-B
• Click + Add an Account (if the account you were trying to download is showing, delete it first)
• Answer No to "Did or will you receive a 1099-B form or brokerage statement for these sales?"
• Continue and report the sale of your investment sales abroad

If you pay foreign taxes on the foreign stock transaction, you will be allowed an offset for these foreign taxes on your US tax return.  If you take a foreign tax credit, your US tax liability will be reduced by the amount of taxes that you would have paid if the transaction took place in the US (see this link Claim Foreign Tax Credit). If you take a foreign tax deduction on Schedule A, you will be allowed to deduct the full amount of the foreign taxes paid but you will need to itemize (which could limit your ability to take the full deduction). The TurboTax software will help you determine which of these options will lower your overall tax liability.

[grahamd1990]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the info.

I want to report ETFs sold from a foreign brokerage account.

When I follow the instructions, I never get the prompt: "Did or will you receive a 1099-B form or brokerage statement for these sales?"

Maybe Turbotax's prompts has changed since last year?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Graham

[ToddL99]

WHat version of TurboTax are you using?

[grahamd1990]

I'm using TurboTax Premier 2020 on my Macbook.

The different steps I go through are the following:

1. I go to "Your Income" 

2. I select "Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Other"

3. I select "Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds"

4. "Get ready to be impressed" page pops up to import the form directly from my brokerage account, which I skip as my brokerage account is not supported as it's foreign 

5. "Let's import your tax info"page pops up; I select "I'll type it myself"

6. "Tell us about your 1099-B sales for this brokerage account"pops up

7. "Since you have more than a few brokerage sales, we recommend entering sales section totals" pops up ; I select "Enter sales section totals"

8. On the actual form, I select either "short long term did not receive 1099-B form" or "short long term did not receive 1099-B form"

9. "Now we'll help you upload your 1099-B since the IRS requires a copy"; I can't say anywhere I did not receive one

Basically, when I select either "short/ long term did not receive 1099-B form", Turbotax doesn't interpret it as such and asks me for my 1099-B.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

[DianeW777]

A Form 1099-B is not required however the worksheet you are using to enter your summarized sales should be either uploaded. Or if you choose to 'Skip' this you can mail it to the IRS with Form 8453. Instructions are provided below.

If you do not have an excel or other saved document file on your computer, that you are using to determine your 'section totals', you will need to create one to send to the IRS.

Once your return has been e-filed, then mail your statements along with Form 8453 to: 

Internal Revenue Service

Attn: Shipping and Receiving, 0254 

Receipt and Control Branch 

Austin, TX 73344-0254

If you need a blank Form 8453, you can download this pdf, enter your address information and check the box for Form 8949 (this form is really just a cover sheet).

[grahamd1990]

Thank you Diane!

I made the worksheet below.

Do you think the information shown is OK?

I have limited historical data from my brokerage account, as it doesn't file a Form 1099-B, but I have a clear recollection of the data presented below.

	Amount (in EUR)	USD Equivalent
Initial basis	€XXX	$XXX
Total proceeds from sale	€XXX	$XXX
Brokerage withdrawal fee	€XXX	$XXX
Taxes (France)	€XXX	$XXX
Net cost (taxes, withdrawal fee and initial basis)	€XXX	$XXX
Average exchange rate on date of sale	0.90

[grahamd1990]

Any feedback on this? Thanks.

[MarilynG1]

Click this link for info on How to Enter Foreign Investment Income.

Enter Foreign Investment Income as if you had received a 1099-B.

Click this link for info on How to Enter Foreign Dividend Income. 

Enter Foreign Dividend Income as if you had received a 1099-DIV.

Dividends over $10 need to be reported.  This article has helpful info on Dividend Income.