1099-DIV: Form 1116 or deduct from Schedule A?

[jotheturtle]

My 1099-Div says I have several hundred dollars in foreign taxes paid. Box 8 says "Various". TurboTax asked me in the review section to either check the box for "Deduct from Sch A" or to link to a copy of Form 1116. I just checked the box. Was that the right thing to do? If not, how do I do the Form 1116 and uncheck the box after all?

FYI I do have other foreign taxes paid on actual income from working in another country temporarily, which I will enter as soon as I figure out how much I owe there. But this is just a 1099-Div from funds in a US bank account.

Thanks for your help!!

[Anonymous]

the credit is a $ for $  savings whereas the deduction might only be worth 40 cents on the $ 

[Anonymous]

generally if the foreign taxes on dividends (passive income) is less than $300 ($600 if filing joint) you can claim the credit without filing 1116. however, if you claim the foreign tax credit on earned income as opposed to exclusion then you must file form 1116 for each category for which your claiming the credit. 

omitting 1116 is done by not linking to the form just list amount and country as various. .   

[jotheturtle]

It's over $600, so I guess I need to file a Form 1116. How do I do that? And how do I uncheck the "Deduct from Schedule A" box?

[LinaJ2020 · Accepted solution]

To file a Form 1116 in the TurboTax program, here are the steps: 

• Open up your TurboTax account or program
• At the right upper corner, in the search box, type in "foreign tax credit" and Enter
• Select Jump to foreign tax credit
• Follow prompts

To uncheck from Schedule A, as you follow the steps from above, on the screen " Do You Want the Deduction or the Credit?", select "Itemized Deduction" and remove the information from that section.  

@jotheturtle

[danielloh1]

Thanks.