What Is the Foreign Tax Credit?

How the Foreign Tax Credit Works

The foreign tax credit is equal to the U.S. tax attributable to a taxpayer's foreign-source income, or the amount of foreign tax paid, whichever is less. It's a credit, not a deduction, so it subtracts directly from any tax debt you might owe the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) when you complete your U.S. tax return.

For instance, if you live abroad and pay income tax to another country, you would be able to subtract that amount from your taxes owed when you file your U.S. return.

An Example of the Foreign Tax Credit

As an example, suppose Jorge and Roberta own a house in Germany, and Jorge is also employed there. He pays $6,000 to Germany in income tax for the 2021 tax year. Jorge can claim a U.S. tax credit on his 2021 tax return for that $6,000. His credit would be limited to $3,000, however, if Jorge were only to earn that much and for some reason were to pay more in taxes.

Now suppose that Jorge and Roberta pay property tax on their home in Germany home each year. The tax is imposed on them, and they pay it. The amount paid is the legal and actual amount of their tax liability, but this tax isn't eligible for the foreign tax credit because it's not actually an income tax.

The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

The IRS also offers a foreign earned income exclusion of up to $1112,000 as of the 2022 tax year. (This is the tax return you'd file in 2022.) For the 2023 tax year, the exclusion is $123,000.

People who work in foreign countries and who earn wages or self-employment income there will often pay taxes on that income to the foreign governments. These taxpayers can exclude some or all of their foreign-earned income from their U.S. federal income tax.

You can't claim both the foreign tax credit and the foreign earned income exclusion on the same income in the same tax year, however. You can claim a foreign tax credit on the income that was not excluded from tax if only part of your wages or self-employed income is excluded.

The Credit vs. the Deduction

You can also claim an itemized tax deduction for foreign income taxes rather than take the foreign tax credit. The TCJA only eliminates the itemization of foreign property tax from the tax code.

Include your foreign taxes on Schedule A and file the schedule with your tax return if you decide to claim the itemized deduction rather than the foreign tax credit. Again, you can't do both.

Requirements for the Foreign Tax Credit

Not all taxes paid to a foreign government are eligible for the foreign tax credit. Ask yourself the following questions to find out if you qualify:

• Is the tax imposed on you personally?
• Did you pay the tax?
• Is the tax a legal and actual foreign tax liability?
• Is the tax an income tax or a tax in lieu of an income tax?

The nature of the tax matters as well. You might meet all the above criteria but still not be able to claim the foreign tax credit due to a few reasons:

• The tax was refundable or otherwise returned to you as a subsidy to you or a member of your family.
• Paying the tax wasn't required by law.
• The tax was withheld from dividends, gains, or income that didn't meet the required minimum holding periods.

How To Claim the Credit

You can claim the foreign tax credit if you qualify by completing and filing IRS Form 1116 with your tax return. This form calculates the various limitations placed on the amount of the tax credit that you're eligible for.

You might not have to use Form 1116 to claim the credit, however. You can claim the credit for the full amount of foreign taxes paid directly on your Form 1040 without calculating the various limitations if each of the following statements on Form 1116 is true:

• All your foreign source gross income was from interest and dividends.
• All that income and the foreign tax paid on it were reported to you on Form 1099-INT, Form 1099-DIV, or Schedule K-1.
• The total of your foreign taxes is equal to or less than $300, or $600 if married filing jointly.
• You held the stock or bonds on which the dividends or interest were paid for at least 16 days and were not obligated to pay these amounts to someone else.
• All of your foreign taxes were legally owed and were not eligible for a refund or a reduced tax rate under a tax treaty, and they were paid to countries recognized by the United States and do not support terrorism.

You can't carry forward any unused foreign tax credit to another tax year if you don't submit Form 1116. This credit isn't refundable, so you can only claim the amount up to your tax liability to the IRS for that particular year. But the balance won't be wasted if you also file Form 1116 because you can then roll the leftover portion to a future tax year.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)