ACTC for expats

[aallpoadoakdfa]

My wife and I live with our 4 children all under 16 outside of the US. We are all US citizens. We have no tax liability in the US. I believe that we still qualify for the ACTC (last year we paid a CPA to do out taxes, we were in the same situation, and we received the ACTC). TT says "since the Additional Child Tax Credit is a refundable credit, but your tax return did not show any earned income, you did not meet that credit's $2,500 minimum earned income requirement." Of course, we have income that is reported, it just is not taxable. How do I get around this?

[Hal_Al]

"ACTC is not allowed if you or your spouse (if filing a joint return) file a Form 2555 or Form 2555EZ (excluding foreign earned income)."

https://www.eitc.irs.gov/other-refundable-credits-toolkit/what-you-need-to-know-about-ctc-and-actc/w...

[aallpoadoakdfa]

Right. So TT is guiding me to use 2555 instead of 1116 (foreign tax credit). In the past I have used 1116. How do I guide TT to use 1116 instead of 2555?

[Hal_Al]

You may want to do a new post with that specific question. 

[NCperson]

@aallpoadoakdfa is it possible you are assuming that using form 1116 in the past was correct? 

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1116.pdf

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i2555.pdf

suggest reading 'who qualifies' on each instruction form to confirm which path is correct in your circumstance. 

Form 1116 is only to be used if you are paying taxes to a foreign government.  Are you?

[aallpoadoakdfa]

Yes, i am paying taxes to a foreign government. How do I indicate this in TT? I can't seem to figure that out. 

[NCperson]

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-forms/forms-2555-2555-ez-used/L1F6ub...