topic Foreign tax credit carryover in Deductions & credits

Foreign tax credit carryover

LXT — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:03:12 GMT

Where can I find the amount of foreign tax credit carryover from my previous tax returns?

Re: Foreign tax credit carryover

DanaB27 — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 19:31:25 GMT

You will find the carryover on Form 1116:

To calculate the Foreign Tax Carryover you take the Total Foreign Tax paid (line 9) - the foreign tax credit limit (line 21)

Please see Where do I enter the foreign tax credit (Form 1116) or deduction? and Can the Foreign Tax Credit be carried over or carried back? for additional information.

[Edited 3/5/2022 | 1:25 pm PST]

Re: Foreign tax credit carryover

LXT — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 18:45:55 GMT

Thanks for your prompt reply.

Looking at my previous two years' tax return, line 21 amount is greater than line14 in both of them. Does it mean that I have no foreign tax credit to be used for my current year tax return?

Re: Foreign tax credit carryover

LXT — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 19:08:09 GMT

Another question:

For the foreign credit interview question: 'Any foreign source qualified dividends or long term capital gains?':

What should I input here in the 'Foreign qualified dividends and l.t. capital gains'?

Re: Foreign tax credit carryover

DanaB27 — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 19:31:41 GMT

I edited my answer above: To calculate the Foreign Tax Carryover you take the Total Foreign Tax paid (line 9) - the foreign tax credit limit (line 21).

You can also look for Schedule B (Form 1116) if you have more than one year.

You will need to enter the amount that is from your Foreign qualified dividends and long-term capital gains.

Re: Foreign tax credit carryover

LXT — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 20:09:57 GMT

Thanks!

Regarding your answer "You will need to enter the amount that is from your Foreign qualified dividends and long-term capital gains", what should I do if the foreign country has no long-term capital gains. This means any profit from capital gains is taxed at 30% tax rate. If this is the case, what should I type in the box?

Re: Foreign tax credit carryover

DanaB27 — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 20:32:41 GMT

You have long-term capital gains if you held the stock longer than one year. If this is the case enter the income/gains in the field.

@LXT

Re: Foreign tax credit carryover

dillonrt73 — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 20:40:41 GMT

My Fed Tax is showing a Foreign Tax Credit carryover, that I don't deserve, but I can't find where to correct it!

Re: Foreign tax credit carryover

DaveF1006 — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 21:06:52 GMT

To clarify, did you pay foreign taxes this year and wasn't able to take advantage of it? Also, do you have foreign tax credits carried forwarded from previous years?

@dillonrt73

Re: Foreign tax credit carryover

hillelri — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 23:25:02 GMT

I have had a longstanding question about foreign tax carryover in TT. In some years I have not used all the foreign taxes paid for that year as a credit and other years the opposite, I got a credit greater than foreign taxes (FT) paid that year. The question relates to the running "carryover" chart. In i.e. year 2016, I paid FT of 318, had none disallowed, and got credit for only 91 that year. I would assume the amount utilized is 91 and the carryover is +227. However in 2017, I paid 521 in FT, had none disallowed and received a TT foreign tax credit of 613. Is the amount utilized that year 521 or 613. If the latter, than is the carryover -92? When I look at the TT carryover chart in the last column, is that supposed to be a series of + and _ numbers depending on what happens a given year or is it a running total, taking the recent year into account. When I look at the TT carryover tally over the 10 years I have used it, it seems incorrect and does not seem to take into account the years that I got a credit that was greater than the FT paid that year.

Thank you in advance for any answers to this.

Re: Foreign tax credit carryover

RobertB4444 — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 19:28:54 GMT

@hillelri Without seeing any of the numbers on your return that might limit the use of the foreign tax credit it is difficult to say what may be resulting in the numbers you're seeing. It is likely that the numbers are reflecting what is and has been allowed over time.

The IRS formula for the foreign tax credit is kind of annoying but it's here.