topic Re: Foreign tax and foreign dividends problem in Deductions & credits

Foreign tax and foreign dividends problem

netmouser — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 22:09:15 GMT

My 1099-div has an amount for field 7. foreign tax paid. I entered 382.59. I continue. For Uncommon Situations I enter None. I continue. An error says to enter foreign dividends received. I have mutual funds RIC checked. I do not see anything in the detail except for a few lines like the following. So, do I just add up the few lines like this (-76.63) to get the total foreign dividends? All the other lines do not have a negative number like the foreign ones do. So very confusing.

06/20/25 -76.63 Foreign tax paid-Various 03

Re: Foreign tax and foreign dividends problem

DavidD66 — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:24:24 GMT

Different financial institutions report the details of dividends differently. There should be some information for each mutual fund that paid a dividend that shows both the different types of dividends (total, ordinary, 199A, foreign, and the amount of foreign tax paid). You want the amount of foreign dividends that resulted in the foreign tax being paid, not the tax - you already have that from box 7. The amount of foreign dividends must be greater than the foreign tax paid.

Re: Foreign tax and foreign dividends problem

netmouser — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:31:30 GMT

I'm showing the only foreign related dividends on the form's detail. And the amounts are negative. I need someone who can tell me what to do with this.

Re: Foreign tax and foreign dividends problem

DavidD66 — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 01:37:36 GMT

If the amounts you are referring to total more than the amount of foreign dividends in box 7 I would use it. Given the amount of your foreign tax paid, it's not going to make any difference in your total tax if the amount of foreign dividends you enter is off somewhat.

Re: Foreign tax and foreign dividends problem

netmouser — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 14:29:30 GMT

What I see in the main form for 7 = 382.95. Of course, in 1a I have the overall total dividends.

Below is the partial detail of this one section (out of several sections), where the foreign tax paid is listed. At the bottom of this section is the total dividends for the full section and total foreign tax withheld. I am confused as to what to enter for the foreign source income:

Actually, given this is so little money, I am ready to just enter the foreign tax as a deduction instead of credit. Your thoughts?

(Partial of this one section)

03/21/25 259.76 Qualified dividend 03
03/21/25 184.27 Nonqualified dividend 03
03/21/25 -29.47 Foreign tax paid-Various 03

06/20/25 479.06 Nonqualified dividend 03
06/20/25 -76.63 Foreign tax paid-Various 03
09/19/25 501.00 Qualified dividend 03
09/19/25 355.42 Nonqualified dividend 03
09/19/25 -56.85 Foreign tax paid-Various 03

12/19/25 -219.64 Foreign tax paid-Various 03

Re: Foreign tax and foreign dividends problem

AmyC — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 16:06:58 GMT

Let's start at the beginning and go through now that we have more information.

Foreign tax paid: I see your negative numbers are foreign tax paid - money you earned that was removed from the account to pay the tax. Box 7
Foreign dividends: net received + foreign tax withheld. Your broker did the math for you on your tax form and included the gross in box 1a.
Foreign source income: In your case, the income from foreign sources is your foreign dividends. You don't mention any other foreign income. You can just add up all the section totals.

The section you show above is around $2k foreign income and about $300 in foreign tax. and you have more so I would recommend the credit as it is a dollar for dollar reduction of your tax bill. If your itemized deductions are significantly higher than standard deduction, you can try it as a deduction.