Reporting foreign interest income. I've received $1556 of foreign interest income but do not have a 1099-INT form from the foreign bank.

Enter your foreign interest as if you had a 1099INT for it. If you paid foreign taxes, enter them in box 6 of that 1099 INT. This should also generate schedule B. You'll need to fill in part 3 of that. 

You can also enter "schedule B" in the search box and then choose from the drop down which part you want to work on.

Turbotax does not support the FBAR from Fincen 114, which you need to file if you have $10000 or more in your foreign accounts. You have to file it through the Treasury website: http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html

You will also have to file Form 8938 Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets if your total foreign accounts are above certain thresholds (see instructions for Form 8938)

Technically, you would enter a Form 1099 for interest, dividends to create a Schedule B.  However, with a foreign entity, you would not have a US FEIN to qualify for the e-file.  To workaround, I would suggest you enter the information under Other Income in the program.  To the IRS, as long as the total amount is reported on your taxes as Other income on line 7a Form 1040, you should be Okay. 

 In TurboTax online, here are the steps: 

• Sign in to your account, select Pick up where you left off
• To the right upper corner, in the search box, type in "other reportable income" and Enter
• Select Jump to other reportable income
• Next screen, Other Wages Received, select No to continue
• Next screen, scroll down all the way to the bottom, under Other reportable income, select Start
• Next screen, Any Other Taxable Income? select Yes to continue
• Enter a description and the amount.

Hi @LinaJ2020, mind explaining a bit more why US FEIN is important in this case? I can't find a field for any identification numbers, let alone employer identification number, anywhere in Schedule B or TurboTax forms for 1099-INT, all they ask for is the payer's name.

Here's also what I find in Schedule B instructions. Doesn't entering just the interest amount based on the foreign bank's statement fall into a substitute statement category?

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Report on line 1 all of your taxable interest. Taxable interest generally should be shown on your Forms 1099-INT, Forms 1099-OID, or substitute statements.

If you are using TurboTax Desktop, you should be able to e-file without any issues.   

For users who use online, there has been an issue about them not be able to e-file without a US FEIN.  This issue has been reported and under investigation.  

@einholen

Any update on the investigation? The issue still persists.

You can still e-file with an error on the EIN.  Skip and continue to follow prompts.  

If it still doesn't work, the last resort would be entering it under "Other Income".  Here are the steps:

In TurboTax online,

• Sign in to your account, select Pick up where you left off
• To the right upper corner, in the search box, type in "other reportable income" and Enter
• Select Jump to other reportable income
• Next screen, Other Wages Received, select No to continue
• Next screen, scroll down all the way to the bottom, under Other reportable income, select Start
• Next screen, Any Other Taxable Income? select Yes to continue
• Enter a description and the amount.

Turbotax Home and Business 2019 Desktop does not require an EIN for Interest income entries. You should enter Foreign Interest income like any other 1099-INT.

As Charles mentioned, just enter the foreign interest the same way you would interest reported on a 1099-INT.

As for FBAR, if you are required to do so, file electronically through FinCENs BSA E-Filing System The FBAR is not filed with a federal tax return.

You may need to file Form 8938 - Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets.  If so, in TurboTax:

• Click on Search
• Type in "Form 8938"
• Click on "Jump to Form 8938
• Answer Yes to "Do you have foreign financial assets?" and click Continue

The program will guide you through completing your Form 8938.

is this resolved? I still see this as an issue in May month.

How do I report the foreign interest income as when I choose the 1099 INT there is no option to enter the amount without the image upload

Are you using desktop or on-line. The is no need for image upload for any version of Turbotax I have ever used. You just skip the upload by saying yo want to enter it manually. When I say I want to report interest I get three choices: 1- import from bank or brokerage, 2- import from TXF file, and 3- "I'll type it in myself".

You can include the foreign interest under the 1099-INT section. Just make sure that you include this amount in USD. Also, if you paid any foreign taxes on this interest income, you will be able to take a Foreign Tax Credit for taxes paid on income that is also taxed in the US.

The Internal Revenue Service has no official exchange rate. In general, use the exchange rate prevailing  when you received the income. Please refer to the following IRS links for more information about Foreign Currency and Currency Exchange Rates and Yearly Average Currency Exchange Rates

To enter foreign interest income in TurboTax, please follow these steps:

1. Once you are in your tax return, go to the Wages & Income tab. 
2. Scroll to the Interest and Dividends section and click the Start/Revisit box next to Interest on 1099-INT.
3. On the screen Did you receive any interest income? click the Yes box,
4. On the screen, Let's import your tax info, click the box at the bottom Change how I enter my form.  [Screenshot #1, below.]

5. On the next screen, How do you want to add your 1099-INT, click the box Type it in myself.  [Screenshot #2]

6. Enter the interest on the next screen.
7. If you paid foreign taxes on the interest, check the box My form has info in more than just box 1 (this is uncommon).  [Screenshot #3.]
8. Enter any foreign taxes paid in box 6.

SCREENSHOT #1

SCREENSHOT #2

SCREENSHOT #3

Thanks for taking the time to reply. in my case the foreign bank doesnt have FEIN number and if the interest is more would that be an issue?

Appreciate for taking the time to reply.

You don't need an FEIN (EIN) number to report the interest. Just enter the amount in Box 1, and enter the name of the bank where required. You are required to report any interest that is one dollar or more.

Thanks Charles.

Finally!  I just wanted to report my Foreign Interest Income and could not find the right answer.  Thanks!  This other reportable income worked for me.   I just cannot use accrued credits under form 1116, but at this point, paying $1500 for a professional or loosing a couple of dollars credits, I am fine to report my FII under other income. IRS will be able to tax. 

[Edited 03/07/2021|3:28 pm pst]

Hi Irene/Other TT Expers,

If I enter foreign tax paid, it also asks for 'foreign source amount included in interest' (box 6d) during the error checking stage. What is the Foreign source amount?

Thank you for this thread and for the solutions.

@Lucka  The IRS needs to know how much income you reported to pay the foreign tax. 

For example: You paid $100 foreign tax. Great, The IRS needs to know which country and how much income you reported to them.

Always being careful if you need to report foreign accounts. Here is a comparison of the 8938 and FBAR requirements. The FBAR is not part of the tax return. It is filed separately. File FBAR through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Thanks for screen shots, I don't get FEIN number from my foreign bank, can I put 111111 there as dummy value? it's a mandatory field?

Fill out the 1099-INT without FEIN.  It should be left blank.  During the final review, you will see a flag for missing FEIN; if this is your only flag, click "File" on the left panel.  This will allow the check to be skipped.   Continue through the rest of the interview questions to finish filing your return.  

@akhilgupta78 

Foreign interest & Dividends should not be reported as other income.  It should be reported on schedule B.  There is no required field for an EIN

@Irene2805 

Not sure if you are still active here but after manually entering interests earned from foreign banks on 1099-INT TT automatically calculates NIIT (3.8%) against the interests. My understanding is that NIIT should not be calculated as my MAGI (modified adjusted gross income) does not exceed the threshold of 200K but it still states the said amount in other taxes when looking through the 1040 summary.

Do you by chance know how to fix this bug? I understand that this is the only way to consider the interests earned from foreign banks when using online TT. Am I better off switching to the desktop version where it would consider the foreign banks interest automatically without imposing NIIT?

Thanks in advance for your reply.