2021 Form 1116 Schedule B (carryovers) can't efile

[hdetoledo]

Thank you for the info, it is very helpful.

TT still shows "unsupported" for Form 1116 Sched B e-file on that link:

https://care-cdn.prodsupportsite.a.intuit.com/forms-availability/turbotax_fed_online_individual.html

Do you know if TT Mgmt at least agreed to update that misleading info from "unsupported" to 3/31/2022?

Thank you!

[evris43]

I do not think you can work around the problem, by not claiming the foreign tax credit this year, if you have any carryovers from previous years. Maybe you can get around it by not downloading last year's return and start from scratch.

[hdetoledo]

Thanks for the info. TT is still stating on their Forms Availability page that Form 1116 Sched B  is unsupported for e-filing and does not show any date for it to be supported. I hoped the CEO would have that changed :(

https://care-cdn.prodsupportsite.a.intuit.com/forms-availability/turbotax_fed_online_individual.html

[ASCP]

In addition to pushing TT to complete coding to allow e-filing of Form 1116 with Schedule B, maybe the TT Community could use the same energy to write your Congressperson or call your Congressperson's office to request that the foreign tax credit amount be increased to perhaps $600 single and $1,200 joint filing without the need to file Form 1116 or Schedule B. Won't help for 2021 but could help for 2022.

Looking back to a tax textbook from 2011, the $300 and $600 limits were the same in 2011 as 2021. Seems like an increase is long overdue.

[bktaxpayer]

I've got the same problem, but the value on form 1116 is 0 and I don't have the schedule attached, is there any workaround to just delete the value?

[xingchen1999199]

Most of the people who need 1116 form will have carry over values. Intuit needs to publish a message to clearly say what their decision or action is instead of letting us guessing for it.

[Anonymous]

IT WORKED!!!!!

Folks, based on someone else post on how to overcome this problem, here's what I did.  And it worked!

Note: I used Turbo Tax Desktop Deluxe for Windows; if you are using a different product or Mac OS, the interface may look different.

1) Fill in all the data, as if you intend to take the Tax Credit

2) Go all the way through and select e-File.  Turbo Tax will bounce you and ask you to file by mail.  Ignore their suggestion

3) Select "Forms" view.  Scroll to Form 1116, which will show a red exclamation point next to it, indicating an error.  This is the box which shows the total (for the past 10 years) Foreign Tax Credit Carryovers to 2021.

4) Open the form, scroll down to the 1st box where the number is shown in red.

Now the fix...

a) Right click that number.  A pop-up will appear.  Select "Override"

b) Then, in the same pop-up select "Cut". 

Important - After "Cut", don't enter any value in that box.

Another blogger suggested you replace the original number with the "0".  Don't do it!  It doesn't work.  With any value in that box (even 0), TT will force you to fill 1116 Schedule B by mail on 3/31.

5) Now scroll down to the 2nd box where you see the number in red.  This is the box which shows the total (for the past 10 years) AMT Foreign Tax Credit Carryovers to 2021.

6) Repeat steps (a) and (b) above in this box

7) Select Step-by-Step at the top right

😎 Go through the e-Filing process.

9) When you run a check, you will see a pop-up that says "We found 0 area on your federal return where we'll need to review your entries.  We'll handle them one at a time".

10) Don't be disappointed!  Proceed to "handle" them one at a time", TT will show the same Form (1116) has an error.  Ignore TT!

11) Don't change anything.  Just ask TT to "Run SmartCheck" again.

12) And suddenly out of nowhere, TT moves on to the e-filing routine.  Done!

The beauty of this approach is - when you view all your calculation worksheets, the cells that you "cut" show the carryover totals.  Both incoming carryovers from 2020 (and earlier) and outgoing carryovers to 2022!  So you have a record of what your carryovers are for your 2022 filing in 2023.

I received a confirmation screen showing my return was transmitted.  Now waiting on IRS's acceptance !  Fingers crossed.

[Payer06]

@Anonymous It appears you are filing a return without specifying a carryover value or including Sch B, on which would be listed any carryover amounts.  If so, why do you believe you would be able to claim carryover amounts next year?  The signature line on the return provides: "Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return and accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and
belief, they are true, correct, and complete".  In other words, it seems this year you are declaring there are no carryover amounts.

[xingchen1999199]

@Anonymous  can you check your PDF file to see how the 1116 form schedule B is filed? or actually it was not part of your file at all?

[anup1993]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried and it worked for me too. You are a genius!

However, I haven't filed my taxes yet because my concern is, what happens next year? We will have a problem if the amounts do not get re-populated. We will loose all the foreign tax credits which have been carried forward for the previous years.

Let us know when IRS accepts your returns.

[ASCP]

'Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return and accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and
belief, they are true, correct, and complete'.  "In other words, it seems this year you are declaring there are no carryover amounts."

I don't think that the IRS can force a taxpayer to take a tax deduction or a credit. If a taxpayer forgoes a tax deduction or credit and thereby pays more tax, this should not be a problem for the taxpayer with regards to the IRS. 

[WHoben]

Would printing the 1116, Schedule B form from the IRS website and filling it out per the IRS instructions, then slotting that in with the rest of my return printed from Turbotax work? Or do I need to wait for Turbotax to release "their" version of the form which still won't allow me to e-file?

[ASCP]

"Would printing the 1116, Schedule B form from the IRS website and filling it out per the IRS instructions, then slotting that in with the rest of my return printed from Turbotax work? Or do I need to wait for Turbotax to release "their" version of the form which still won't allow me to e-file?"

The IRS forms are official forms, so can't see why you cannot use the official IRS form to complete your return and mail your return.  Complete Form 1116 with TT and complete Schedule B using IRS form. Should be ok, again, since you are using an official Schedule B.

[Anonymous]

@xingchen1999199,

I checked the pdf version of the 2021 Federal return I filed about 90mins ago.   I also compared it to the 2020 Federal return I filed last year.  Here's what I see...

Just like the last page of the 2020 return that was transmitted by TT to the IRS, the last page of the 2021 return includes the following on the last page: "Foreign Tax Credit Carryover Statement" showing incoming Foreign Tax Credit amounts for each of the last 10 years, as well as the total amount.   Recall, even though I had "cut" the value in the Total cell as part of my workaround for the TT Form 1116 Sch B situation we are all facing, the TT software automatically re-calculated the value and included it in the Total cell on the page that was transmitted to the IRS.

Neither the 2020 return nor the 2021 return that was transmitted to the IRS show details of the carryovers for the following years.  i.e. Last year's return (the 2020 return) included carryovers from the past 10 years, but not what was carried forward to 2021.  Similarly, the 2021 return includes carryovers for the past 10 years, but not what is carried forward to 2022.

@Payer06 rightly asks why I believe I will be able to claim carryover amounts next year even though I didn't file Form 1116, Sch B.   My confidence (and I must agree that it could be misplaced confidence) comes from a prior experience about 9 years ago when I had claimed a deduction for my daughter's college expense and the TT file transmitted to the IRS included only the 1099-T details showing a withdrawal from my 529 account but not the 1098-T details that showed an equivalent $ amount as expenses.  I received a letter from the IRS saying I had no expenses and therefore had to pay tax on my 529 withdrawals.  I simply printed out the worksheet from TT, faxed it to the IRS showing the expenses along with a cover note explaining that I didn't realize that TT hadn't included the info in the file they transmitted.  The IRS accepted the TT worksheet and my statement and closed the issue.

Now, my 2021 TT worksheets show the carryover amounts to 2022, so if I receive a letter from the IRS after I file my return next year asking me to prove that I had carryovers, I plan to repeat what I did 9 years ago - print the Carryover to 2022 worksheet from TT and fax it to the IRS.

As I stated, this may be misplaced confidence; but I do believe that the IRS understands that self-prepared taxes may not be as pristine as those prepared by expensive CPAs.

As an aside, I now have the IRS's acceptance email for my return, so I know the workaround I implemented has worked.  I hope this helps those who are as frustrated as I am about this year's TT experience.  Thanks to @Payer06 for asking an insightful question.  I hope response provides everyone clarity on whether or not to proceed with the workaround that I implemented.

[Anonymous]

@anup1993, I have received the email from the IRS confirming that they "accepted" my return.  Hope this helps.