Foreign source income - where on 1040

[Cheshirekat]

I’ve been trying to figure out where in form 1040 TurboTax now places foreign-source income, if at all. Line 1 has expanded since last year (now there’s a line for W2 income, and other, rather than just one for all salary/wages) so I’ve sought advice, but I haven’t been willing to pay for TurboTax e-filing until I can see a draft of its return to make sure I’m happy with the placement.

In previous years, line 1 was a catch-all that included salary and wages, so it’s very obvious that income from a job abroad belonged there even though I didn’t have a W2, and  TurboTax listed it there. This year, line 1 is split into all sorts of sub-lines. I’m not sure which one TurboTax assigns foreign source income to, if it does at all (does it now use schedule 1 instead?) and would just like confirmation of where TurboTax now shows this to make sure it matches the advice I’ve been given. 

(I’m aware of form 2555, which is the foreign earned income exclusion. This also asks for foreign income. But as my foreign income also appeared on 1040 Line 1 in previous years, I would be very surprised if it disappeared this year).

Thanks for any help!

[RalphH1 · Accepted solution]

TurboTax puts foreign income on line 1h of the 1040, if you enter it in the “Foreign Earned Income and Exclusion” section (whether or not you end up telling it you want to exclude). It also puts it there if you enter it as “Other Earned Income” in the “Other income not already reported on a Form W-2 or Form 1099” section.

Some people do enter it in the “Miscellaneous Income” section of the program (although it doesn’t tell you to enter foreign income there) so that it ends up on line 8z of Schedule 1 (as “Other Income,” with a description over to the side of the amount), flowing through to line 8 of the 1040. Since it’s treated exactly the same way, and the IRS doesn’t seem to feel this is a big deal anyway (as they don’t clarify it very well in the instructions), that shouldn’t be a problem.

@Cheshirekat, hopefully our line 1h matches the advice you’ve been given!