Foreign Tax Credit vs Itemizing: What foreign expenses can I itemize?

[Ruta]

Because I work overseas and pay taxes there, I can take the Foreign Tax Credit.  If I take the simplified FTC, I count only the foreign income tax that I paid.  If I instead take the itemized deduction, could I count more of my foreign expenses in addition to the foreign income tax?

For example, I have rent for my foreign lodgings, health insurance payments, commuting costs.

I am not self-employed.  I realize that these examples are usually not deductible when the tax payer is an employee at a company in the US.  But can they be included as itemized deductions when one is working abroad?

[PattiF]

No, you cannot deduct anything extra for being out of the United States. You can elect to deduct the taxes paid or take the credit. It is typically better to take the credit.