topic Where should I enter income tax that I paid in a foreign country? I am an expat working abroad and trying to file for Foreign Tax Credit, not the FEIE. in Deductions & credits

Where should I enter income tax that I paid in a foreign country? I am an expat working abroad and trying to file for Foreign Tax Credit, not the FEIE.

83de2dbe95d8 — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 04:07:25 GMT

The only area in Turbotax Online where you can enter foreign employment income tries to railroad you into taking the FEIE, but I benefit more from the FTC. I cannot receive the FTC unless I input taxes paid overseas in the Wages & Income section, but there is no such field under the Foreign Earned Income section. How can I report the taxes I am paying overseas in order to qualify for the FTC?

Re: Where should I enter income tax that I paid in a foreign country? I am an expat working abroa...

ThomasM125 — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 03:28:38 GMT

You first have to enter your foreign income and then claim a credit for foreign taxes paid. You can't get a foreign tax credit in any year you don't report foreign income. You report the foreign income in the Foreign Earned Income section like you mention, unless you have reported it elsewhere. You don't have to apply for the foreign earned income exclusion when you use that section.

To enter your foreign earned income if you haven't enter it in another section of TurboTax, find the Foreign Earned Income and Exclusion section that you will find under Less Common Income in the Wages and Income section of TurboTax. On the screen that asks What Form(s) Was Foreign Income Reported on? answer A Statement from my foreign employer. You will be asked if you want to try to exclude the income, to which you should answer "no". You will be asked if you want to delete form 2555, to which you will answer "yes". The income will appear on your form 1040, line 1(h) as other earned income.

For the foreign tax credit, find Estimates and Other Taxes Paid in the Deductions and Credits section and choose Foreign Taxes. Work through that section and indicate that you want the credit as opposed to a deduction. Choose the "no" option on the page that says No Other Income or Expenses. Choose General Category income for the type of income. Choose the country you earned the income from and enter a description of the income and the amount earned. Enter the foreign taxes paid when instructed to do so. You probably don't need to enter much else on the rest of the screens but you can enter anything that you think applies to you. You will see your foreign tax credit listed on line 1 of Schedule 3 Additional Credits and Payments.

To view your form 1040 and schedule 1 to 3:

Choose Tax Tools from your left menu bar in TurboTax Online
Choose Tools
Choose View Tax Summary
See the Preview my 1040 option in the left menu bar and click on it
Choose the Back option in the left menu bar when you are done

Re: Where should I enter income tax that I paid in a foreign country? I am an expat working abroa...

83de2dbe95d8 — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 07:07:03 GMT

Thank you for the reply! Checking out the 1040, the income does appear on item 1(h) as it should. However, when I go to do the foreign tax credit as described, I get the message

"You can only get the Foreign Tax Credit if you had foreign income and paid foreign taxes on that income. Based on your answers to the previous questions, it doesn't look like you paid any foreign taxes. This means you aren't eligible for the Foreign Tax Credit this year."

as soon as I say I have said I have finished entering all my income.

The system has not allowed me to enter whether I have paid any foreign taxes, so why is it making this determination?

Re: Where should I enter income tax that I paid in a foreign country? I am an expat working abroa...

DaveF1006 — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 15:47:29 GMT

You may need to enter this income again if the foreign income did not populate to Form 1116. I will provide screen shots for you to enter this information as you complete your Foreign Tax Credit interview.

Enter the amount of gross income in the first screen and then the amount of foreign taxes paid in the second screen. Please make sure your own country is listed and not the word various as these screens are for illustration purposes only.