In another post I wanted to learn how to report income from a foreign pension. Again, this has nothing to do with a 401(k) or IRA as no portion of my salary was invested on the stock exchange in my country of origin (I am still citizen of that country). This income is really very similar to "social security" here in the U.S. Also, according to the bi-lateral tax agreement between the 2 countries stipulates that the IRS can't tax this accrued income that is based on my employment history. Of course, that does not mean that I can just skip reporting said income, I will need to report it.
The problem isn't necessarily how to report the income, BUT it appears impossible to claim a tax credit on a modest pension ("foreign social security")! A foreign tax credit can only be claimed against foreign income, but I can't report this foreign income as foreign income as I would have to dream up a fake/bogus 1099R. That said, the so-called "substitute 1099R" won't make any sense whatsoever. This foreign entity does not issue a 1099R form.
So, the conclusion at this point is that TurboTax is not capable of handling this tax situation and I am 100% certain that there are thousands of others in my situation. Will likely need to look for another software package although I don't think they will be much better.
JJ
