Foreign Bank Account - 1099 INT - I enter as Turbo states. Flaged for no FEIN. I put in all zeros. Passes income check. Flagged again at Federal check. Ideas?

[KarenJ2]

I am not sure where in TurboTax it is asking for an FEIN number for your 1099-INT.  Would you kindly advise where in the program you are entering the 1099-INT.  Thank you.

There is not a special section for Foreign Interest.  Instead, report as you would other interest as if you received a 1099-INT.  To do so, while logged in and in your return: 

• Type Interest into Search 

• Click on "Jump to" 

• Click on "I'll Type it in Myself" 

• Fill out the appropriate boxes.  You can click on the box that your form has info in more than just box 1 

• You can enter the foreign tax paid on your interest (if any) 

[user3224]

It does not work.

I want to entering 1099-INT for the interest paid by foreign bank. My foreign bank has not provided me any 1099-INT. Turbotax lets me proceed until "Review" step. When I click "Check my info", it shows "Here's the result of our completecheck, items to review". Under this there is a "Continue" button.

Next screen appears is "our completecheck™ to-do list". It lists the 1099-INT with no FEIN. There is a review button here. Upon clicking "Review", the next screen is "Let's get the info from your 1099-INT".

In this screen it says "Please read below and take any necessary actions". It highlights the box "Federal Identification Number (FEIN)" in red. Under this box (FEIN) it says "! Needs info.". Here it allows to continue without FEIN. But again the "Review" step fails. 

It seems like there is a bug introduced Turobtax software this year. Because of this it requires FEIN for 1099-INT entries. My foreign bank has not provided me any 1099-INT. I am unable to submit my returns using Turbotax. 

Please advise.

[LinaJ2020]

Let's use 9s as the FEIN for the workaround. 

99-9999999

@sriwastava

[user3224]

I tried 99-9999999 as the payer's fedral ID number but it does not pass the "Review" step. The error message is below.

Payer's Federal ID Number is invalid for Electronic Filing. You must enter a valid employer identification.

Please advise.

[KarenJ2]

You can enter the the foreign interest as miscellaneous income in TurboTax:

1. Open your return in TurboTax 

2. Click on Wages & Income 

3. Scroll down to All Income 

4. Scroll down to Less Common Income 

5. Scroll down to Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C 

6. Click start 

7. Scroll down to Other reportable income 

8. Answer yes 

9. Enter interest description and amount 

[user3224]

does form 1099-MISC support foreign taxes?

[LinaJ2020]

If you meant to ask if you can claim a foreign tax credit by paying foreign taxes on a Form 1099-MISC income, the answer is Yes.  

Without a Form 1099, you will still be able to claim a foreign tax credit on the income.  Here are the steps:

In TurboTax online,

• Open up your TurboTax account and select Pick up where you left off
• At the right upper corner, in the search box, type in "foreign tax credit" and Enter
• Select Jump to foreign tax credit
• Follow prompts
• On-screen, "Tell Us About Your Foreign Taxes", select None of these apply and Continue
• Follow prompts
• On-screen, Choose the Income Type, check General Income
• Follow prompts
• On-screen, Other Gross Income-Foreign country, enter description and amount
• Follow prompts, 
• On-screen, Foreign Taxes Paid-foreign country
• Under Foreign Taxes on Other Income, enter the amount
• See the images below

@user3224

[LinaJ2020]

To enter the foreign interest income, see instructions from KarenJ2 above. 

If you have paid foreign taxes on that income, you can claim a foreign tax credit on Form 1116.  Without a Form 1099, you will still be able to claim a foreign tax credit on the income.  See my answers from above. 

@sriwastava @user3224

[Anonymous]

Confirmed. Same problem in 2021 but you use 1099-INT and just keep going at the end of the review. It will let you e-file without the FEIN after all. Just don't enter the review on that topic specifically and you should be able to finish and e-file.

It doesn't make any sense for a Foreign Bank to have a FEIN. TT needs to understand that, since no other software company i now makes that field mandatory.

[ReneeM7122]

One reason for FEINs on foreign bank accounts is because of FATCA, which is a bank regulation.  Here is an IRS article with more information. 

This IRS requirement (imposed on TurboTax), can also be explained another way:

Sometimes Foreign banks are present in the US.  For example, In New York City, you can find many foreign banks such as the Bank of China, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Deutsche Bank, Bank Leumi, and MUFG Bank just to name a few.  When these banks do business with other banks and Municipal / State or Federal governments, they would need to complete a form W-8ECI and use their FEIN. This is similar to a regular domestic business using a W-2 and EIN or an employee completing a W-4 and providing an SSN.   Also they can't issue 1099 forms to US customers if they do not have an FEIN.  According to your logic, though the foreign bank is standing on US soil, since they are foreign, they should not have an FEIN.  However, there are treaties involved and complex tax issues that mandate that if services are provided in the US, then an FEIN is required.

This is just one example of why a foreign bank would require an FEIN.  TurboTax is just complying with IRS tax laws.

  @Anonymous

[nsj]

This is the correct answer by Karen J2

[Sailor999]

I’m having the exact same problem in the 2022 version. When I try to enter interest on a foreign bank account, TT tells me to enter it on a 1099-int. When I do that and select “type it in yourself”, TT is insisting on entering an FEIN. If it is not entered or entered as all zeroes, it is flagged as an error during the final check. 

[PattiF]

From KarenJ2:

 You can enter the foreign interest as miscellaneous income in TurboTax:

1. Open your return in TurboTax 
2. Click on Wages & Income 
3. Scroll down to All Income 
4. Scroll down to Less Common Income 
5. Scroll down to Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C 
6. Click start 
7. Scroll down to Other reportable income 
8. Answer yes 
9. Enter interest description and amount 

@Sailor999 

[Junnity]

I was able to search for an EIN for my foreign bank and it seems to fit.