E-file rejected due to ForeignTaxesPaidOrAccruedDt on Form 1116

[drennman]

adavar

TT sometimes create spurious forms from my experience.  But I'd suggest that you go back and recheck your 1099-Divs just to make sure nothing accidentally got entered in Box 7 or 8.

If you are sure, simply delete form 1116.  You are right if you didn't pay foreign tax on anything you don't need to file the form.    

But did you at anytime in the past?  As there may be a foreign tax credit carry forward that you don't want to lose.  Form 1116 and its attached explanation statement do that carry-forward for you.   You can check this out by looking under Go to Forms and looking for the explanation statement.  If you do have carry-forward then you do want the 1116 filed just to preserve that credit.

[FalGalME]

Do whatever it takes to e-file!

I filed paper as per TT directive, mailed the 30-page return March 15. It was delivered to Kansas March 18 (although my USPS certified mail return receipt apparently has yet to be processed). The IRS is showing no record at all that I filed.

Wish now I had held out for the smart solutions I've been reading.

Best wishes to you!

[survij]

Hi Goldiegirl,

Thank you for helping me.

I did exactly what you told about Form 1116 part 2. In foreign tax withheld I used to put my wife's taxes and my taxes in one sum. I have done this for last 9 years and my tax file was accepted but not this year. 

I Put them separately in A and B and now it is accepted!!!!!!!!

TT should have caught that under error.  three TT specialists could not see this too.

Thank you . No more filing by mail. I have to file state now by mail as I do not want to pay for efile for state.

I do not owe any state taxes. I wonder if I have to file state tax by mail???

Thanks again.

Survij

[mistyal3]

Foxbat--You seem to be very well informed. I've tried everyone's advice even though the problems seem different from mine. Here's my question: it's about Form 1116, Part I, line 4a, Home mortgage interest. I have a zero in that box. After much digging I learn that it has to be blank! But I can't delete the zero. It later told me that my zero had overridden (something?). To cancel this override I had to hit ctrl+D. I tried over and over to do this. At times the zero disappeared, but then it came right back! I'm waiting for a miracle before I mail it next week! I'm 86 years old and have been using TT for 10 years.  Mistyal

[Foxbat]

Mistyal3,

I have not encountered the Form 1116 Part I line 4a problem, but suspect if you look back to your Schedule A you might find something there or in the mortgage worksheet that is feeding to the Form 1116.

Since you have used TT for so long, you are likely familiar with the Forms vs. Step-by-Step approach.  For this, I would try Forms to look for an Forms 1098 (mortgage interest reporting) that may be active.  IF (big if) you have no home mortgage interest and there is a Form 1098 with zero reported on it you can delete it.  Next, look at Schedule A for interest expense to see what if anything is there and correct it to whatever amounts should be there.  If there are any links showing, follow those to see where the information is coming from and if it is correct.

TT on Form 1116 does not show errors prior to filing with the IRS as TT thinks there are no errors whereas the IRS thinks there are.  This means the only way you find out if you have resolved the errors is by attempting to efile.  Fortunately, TT does not charge for failed efile attempts; I attempted 7 times before succeeding on the 8th try. 

After I succeeded I regarded the process as an interesting problem overcome.  During the process my view was less benign.

[theTA007]

If you paid $0 foreign tax this year, and if you have no foreign tax carryforward from a prior year, then you do not need to file form 1116.  You should be able to delete it from TurboTax and this will not cause an issue with the IRS. 

[theTA007]

I have a general income foreign tax credit carryforward from a couple of years ago.  While I'm not expecting to work out of the USA in the future and so I probably won't ever be able to utilize this tax credit carryforward, I don't want to delete 1116 in 2020 and lose the credit just in case I end up being able to use it in the future.   

In my case, the box was checked properly.  What seemed to fix the problem for me:  in the section where one should input tax actually paid in the year, I input 12/31/20 and 0 tax paid.  

[Deskandchairs]

TT never responded.  Useless😩

Anyone else considering moving to H&R Block.  I could not find anything on the internet indicating their users were having e-file problems

[ABitAnnoyed]

@Deskandchairs 

This is only one man's opinion, but for what it's worth I chose TaxAct over H&R Block.  I tried all three this year due to Turbotax refusing to efile (I have the Simplified AMT message).   I efiled (successfully) with TaxAct.

TaxAct is superior in my view because they show their work.   To be specific (and this may be highly specific to my tax situation), I am required to fill out the Line 18 worksheet for the AMT version of Form 1116.   Block skipped the worksheet altogether, and if I'd filed with Block I would have paid the IRS an extra $500 because of that.   TurboTax filled it out, silently and correctly, but to verify it I had to compute it by hand.   TaxAct filled it out correctly, and also provided me with the filled-out worksheet. 

More generally, TaxAct provides the most backup detail, Turbotax in the middle, and Block provides very little beyond what actually gets filed with the IRS.   That might not be important to everyone, of course.   It wouldn't have been enough to make me want to switch if it hadn't been for Turbotax refusing to efile my return.  But now I'm a happy TaxAct customer.   Bye bye, Turbotax.  

[theTA007]

Mine finally got accepted after 2 full days of finagling entries relating to my 1116.  Yes, I'm definitely thinking of trying H&R Block next year.

[theTA007]

Thanks for this input.  I tried TaxAct in the past but was unable to download my 1099s from my broker.  More important, I'm going to take a look later at whatever that line 18 is.  I was disappointed to see a reduction in my refund that resulted from my working through the efile problems, though it might well have been correct. 

I do agree with you that the lack of complete workings is very frustrating in TurboTax.  There are many numbers that I don't understand.

If I get some free time in a month or two, I might invest in TaxAct to see how difficult it is and to see if I get a better refund.  Might possibly be worth filing an amended return....

[Radtree]

I spent a lot of time reading through this and other threads. Seems that there is no work-around if the following factors apply:

- You have significant foreign taxes, and
- You have previously selected the simplified method for AMT foreign tax credit.

If these are the case, you can't change to the non-simplified method without prior IRS approval, which you won't be able to get on a timely basis, if at all.

Also,  if you're using the simplified method, you cannot even try to submit it to the IRS and see if they reject it. Turbotax does not eve permit you to try to submit it. At least on Turbotax Home and Business...

This a a major failing by Turbotax. I will look into using different software for next year.

[Radtree]

The lack of initiative in addressing this issue, at least on the surface, that we see exhibited by Turbotax is disappointing and discouraging.  I am wondering if Turbotax is a good fit for people who have small businesses and/or or subject to the AMT. It's probably fine with people who only have simple W-2 income, but I really need to see if better options are available for people in other situations.

[Foxbat]

See my recent prior posts where I describe in detail how to get this to work.  I got it to work in circumstances similar to what you described -- Simplified AMT and "significant" foreign taxes.  It does take work, and yes it would certainly be nice if TT corrected the errors.

[theTA007]

Thank you, Foxbat.  Yes, I did read your earlier posts and some of the clues from them did help me.  Thank you!