Publication 514 |
2000 Tax Year |
How To Figure the Credit
As already indicated, you can claim a foreign tax credit only for
foreign taxes on income, war profits, or excess profits, or taxes in
lieu of those taxes. In addition, there is a limit on the amount of
the credit that you can claim. You figure this limit and your credit
on Form 1116. Your credit is the amount of foreign tax you paid or
accrued or, if smaller, the limit.
If you have foreign taxes available for credit but you cannot use
them because of the limit, you may be able to carry them back to the 2
previous tax years and forward to the next 5 tax years. See
Carryback and Carryover, later.
Also, certain tax treaties have special rules that you must
consider when figuring your foreign tax credit. See Tax Treaties,
later.
Exemption from foreign tax credit limit.
You will not be subject to this limit and will be able to claim the
credit without using Form 1116 if the following requirements are met.
- Your only foreign source gross income for the tax year is
passive income. Passive income is defined later under Separate
Limit Income. However, for purposes of this rule, high taxed
income and export financing interest are also passive income. Passive
income also includes income that would be passive except that it is
also described in another income category.
- Your qualified foreign taxes for the tax year are not more
than $300 ($600 if filing a joint return).
- All of your gross foreign income and the foreign taxes are
reported to you on a payee statement (such as a Form 1099-DIV or
1099-INT).
- You elect this procedure for the tax year.
If you make this election, you cannot carry back or carry over any
unused foreign tax to or from this tax year.
This election exempts you only from the limit figured on Form 1116
not from the other requirements described in this
publication. For example, the election does not exempt you from the
requirement that the foreign tax be a nonrefundable income tax.
Limit on the Credit
Your foreign tax credit cannot be more than your total U.S. tax
liability (line 40, Form 1040) multiplied by a fraction. The numerator
of the fraction is your taxable income from sources outside the United
States. The denominator is your total taxable income from U.S. and
foreign sources.
To determine the limit, you must separate your foreign source
income into categories, as discussed under Separate Limit
Income. The limit treats all foreign income and expenses in each
separate category as a single unit and limits the credit to the U.S.
income tax on the taxable income in that category from all sources
outside the United States.
Separate Limit Income
You must figure the limit on a separate Form 1116 for each of the
following categories of income:
- Passive income,
- High withholding tax interest,
- Financial services income,
- Shipping income,
- Certain dividends from a domestic international sales
corporation (DISC) or former DISC,
- Certain distributions from a foreign sales corporation (FSC)
or former FSC,
- Any lump sum distributions from employer benefit plans for
which the special averaging treatment is used to determine your
tax,
- Section 901(j) income,
- Income re-sourced by treaty, and
- General limitation income. This is all other income not
included in the above categories.
In figuring your separate limits, you must combine the income (and
losses) in each category from all foreign sources, and then apply the
limit.
Income from controlled foreign corporations.
As a U.S. shareholder, certain income that you receive or accrue
from a controlled foreign corporation (CFC) is treated as separate
limit income. You are considered a U.S. shareholder in a CFC if you
own 10% or more of the total voting power of all classes of the
corporation's stock.
Subpart F inclusions, interest, rents, and royalties from a CFC are
generally treated as separate limit income if they are attributable to
the separate limit income of the CFC. A dividend paid or accrued out
of the earnings and profits of a CFC is treated as separate limit
income in the same proportion that the part of earnings and profits
attributable to income in the separate category bears to the total
earnings and profits of the CFC.
Partnership distributive share.
In general, a partner's distributive share of partnership income is
treated as separate limit income if it is from the separate limit
income of the partnership. However, if the partner owns less than a
10% interest in the partnership, the income is generally treated as
passive income. For more information, see section 1.904-5(h) of
the regulations.
Passive Income
Except as described earlier under Income from controlled
foreign corporations and Partnership distributive share,
passive income generally includes dividends, interest, rents,
royalties, and annuities. It also includes net gain from the sale of
non-income-producing investment property or property that generates
passive income. Net gain from commodities transactions is included,
except for hedging and active business gains or losses of producers,
processors, merchants, or handlers of commodities. Passive income also
includes amounts you must include as foreign personal holding company
income under section 551(a) or 951(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and
amounts includible under section 1293 of the Internal Revenue Code
(relating to certain passive foreign investment companies).
If you receive foreign source distributions from a mutual
fund that elects to pass through to you the foreign tax credit,
the income is generally considered passive. The mutual fund will need
to provide you with a written statement showing the amount of foreign
taxes it elected to pass through to you.
What is not passive income.
Passive income does not include any of the following.
- Gains or losses from the sale of inventory property or
property held mainly for sale to customers in the ordinary course of
your trade or business.
- Export financing interest.
- High-taxed income.
- Active business rents and royalties from unrelated
persons.
- Any income that is defined in another separate limit
category.
Export financing interest.
This is interest derived from financing the sale or other
disposition of property for use outside the United States if:
- The property is manufactured or produced in the United
States, and
- 50% or less of the value of the property is due to imports
into the United States.
High-taxed income.
This is passive income subject to foreign taxes that are higher
than the highest U.S. tax rate that can be imposed on the income. The
high-taxed income and the taxes imposed on it are moved from the
passive income category into the general limitation income category.
See section 1.904-4(c) of the regulations for more information.
High Withholding Tax Interest
High withholding tax interest is interest (except export financing
interest) that is subject to a foreign withholding tax or other tax
determined on a gross basis of at least 5%. If interest is not high
withholding tax interest because it is export financing interest, it
is usually general limitation income. However, if it is received by a
financial services entity, it is financial services income.
Financial Services Income
Financial services income generally is income received or accrued
by a financial services entity. This is an entity predominantly
engaged in the active conduct of a banking, financing, insurance, or
similar business. If you qualify as a financial services entity,
financial services income includes income from the active conduct of
that business, passive income, high-taxed income, certain incidental
income, and export financing interest which is subject to a foreign
withholding or gross-basis tax of at least 5%.
Shipping Income
This is income derived from, or in connection with, the use (or
hiring or leasing for use) of any aircraft or vessel in foreign
commerce or income derived from space or ocean activities. It also
includes income from the sale or other disposition of these aircraft
or vessels. Shipping income that is also financial services income is
treated as financial services income.
DISC Dividends
This dividend income generally consists of dividends from an
interest charge domestic international sales corporation (DISC) or
former DISC that are treated as foreign source income.
FSC Distributions
These are:
- Distributions from a foreign sales corporation (FSC) or
former FSC out of earnings and profits attributable to foreign trade
income, or
- Interest and carrying charges incurred by an FSC or former
FSC from a transaction that results in foreign trade income.
Lump-Sum Distribution
If you receive a foreign source lump-sum distribution (LSD) from a
retirement plan, and you figure the tax on it using the special
averaging treatment for LSDs, you must make a special computation.
The special averaging treatment for LSDs is elected by filing Form
4972, Tax on Lump-Sum Distributions.
Follow the Form 1116 instructions and complete the worksheet in
those instructions to determine your foreign tax credit on the LSD.
Section 901(j) Income
This is income earned from activities conducted in sanctioned
countries. Income derived from each sanctioned country is subject to a
separate foreign tax credit limitation. Therefore, you must use a
separate Form 1116 for income earned from each such country. See
Taxes Imposed By Sanctioned Countries (Section 901(j) Income)
under Foreign Taxes for Which You Cannot Take a
Credit, earlier.
Income Re-sourced By Treaty
If a sourcing rule in an applicable income tax treaty treats any of
the income described below as foreign source, and you elect to apply
the treaty, the income will be treated as foreign source.
- Certain gains (section 865(h)).
- Certain income from a U.S.-owned foreign corporation
(section 904(g)(10)). See Regulations section 1.904-5(m)(7) for
an example.
You must compute a separate foreign tax credit limitation for any
such income for which you claim benefits under a treaty, using a
separate Form 1116 for each amount of re-sourced income from a treaty
country.
General Limitation Income
This is income from sources outside the United States that does not
fall into one of the other separate limit categories. It generally
includes active business income as well as wages, salaries, and
overseas allowances of an individual as an employee.
Allocation of Foreign Taxes
If you paid or accrued foreign income tax for a tax year on income
in more than one separate limit income category, allocate the tax to
the income category to which the tax specifically relates. If the tax
is not specifically related to any one category, you must allocate the
tax to each category of income.
You do this by multiplying the foreign income tax related to more
than one category by a fraction. The numerator of the fraction is the
net income in a separate category. The denominator is the total net
foreign income.
You figure net income by deducting from the gross income in each
category and from the total foreign income any expenses, losses, and
other deductions definitely related to them under the laws of the
foreign country or U.S. possession. If the expenses, losses, and other
deductions are not definitely related to a category of income under
foreign law, they are apportioned under the principles of the foreign
law. If the foreign law does not provide for apportionment, use the
principles covered in the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
Table 4. Source of Income
Example.
You paid foreign income taxes of $3,200 to Country A on wages of
$80,000 and interest income of $3,000. These were the only items of
income on your foreign return. You also have deductions of $4,400
that, under foreign law, are not definitely related to either the
wages or interest income.
Because the foreign tax is not specifically for either item of
income, you must allocate the tax between the wages and the interest
under the tax laws of Country A. For purposes of this example, assume
that the laws of Country A do this in a manner similar to the U.S.
Internal Revenue Code. First figure the net income in each category by
allocating those expenses that are not definitely related to either
category of income.
You figure the expenses allocable to wages (general limitation
income) as follows:
The net wages are $75,759 ($80,000 - $4,241).
You figure the expenses allocable to interest (passive income) as
follows:
The net interest is $2,841 ($3,000 - $159).
Then, to figure the foreign tax on the wages, you multiply the
total foreign income tax by the following fraction:
You figure the foreign tax on the interest income as follows.
Foreign Taxes From a Partnership or an
S Corporation
If foreign taxes were paid or accrued on your behalf by a
partnership or an S corporation, you will figure your credit using
certain information from the Schedule K-1 you received from the
partnership or S corporation. If you received a 2000 Schedule
K-1 from a partnership or an S corporation that includes foreign
tax information, see your Form 1116 instructions for how to report
that information.
Figuring the Limit
Before you can determine the limit on your credit, you must first
figure your total taxable income from all sources before
the deduction for personal exemptions. This is the amount shown
on line 37 of Form 1040. Then for each category of income, you must
figure your taxable income from sources outside the United States.
Foreign earned income.
For this computation, taxable income does not include any income
that is exempt from tax under the foreign earned income exclusion or
the foreign housing exclusion. These exclusions from income are
discussed in detail in Publication 54.
Determining Source of Income
Before you can figure your taxable income in each category from
sources outside the United States, you must first determine whether
your gross income in each category is from U.S. sources or foreign
sources. Some of the general rules for figuring the source of income
are outlined in Table 4.
Sales or exchanges of certain personal property.
Generally, if personal property is sold by a U.S. resident, the
gain or loss from the sale is treated as U.S. source. If personal
property is sold by a nonresident, the gain or loss is treated as
foreign source.
This rule does not apply to the sale of inventory, intangible
property, or depreciable property, or property sold through a foreign
office or fixed place of business. The rules for these types of
property are discussed later.
U.S. resident.
The term "U.S. resident," for this purpose, means a U.S.
citizen or resident alien who does not have a tax home in a foreign
country. The term also includes a nonresident alien who has a tax home
in the United States. Generally, your tax home is the general area of
your main place of business, employment, or post of duty, regardless
of where you maintain your family home. Your tax home is the place
where you are permanently or indefinitely engaged to work as an
employee or self-employed individual. If you do not have a regular or
main place of business because of the nature of your work, then your
tax home is the place where you regularly live. If you do not fit
either of these categories, you are considered an itinerant and your
tax home is wherever you work.
Nonresident.
A nonresident is any person who is not a U.S. resident.
U.S. citizens and resident aliens with a foreign tax home will be
treated as nonresidents for a sale of personal property only if an
income tax of at least 10% of the gain on the sale is paid to a
foreign country.
This rule also applies to losses recognized after January 10, 1999,
if the foreign country would have imposed a 10% or higher tax had the
sale resulted in a gain. You can choose to apply this rule to losses
recognized in tax years beginning after 1986. For details about making
this choice, see section 1.865-1T(f)(2) of the regulations. For
stock losses, see section 1.865-2(e) of the regulations.
Inventory.
Income from the sale of inventory that you purchased is sourced
where the property is sold. Generally, this is where title to the
property passes to the buyer.
Income from the sale of inventory that you produced in the United
States and sold outside the United States (or vice versa) is sourced
based on an allocation. For information on making the allocation, see
section 1.863-3 of the Regulations.
Intangibles.
Income from the sale of intangible property (such as a patent,
copyright, trademark, or goodwill) that is contingent on the
productivity, use, or disposition of the property is sourced in the
country where the property is used. If the income is not contingent on
the productivity, use, or disposition of the property, the income is
sourced according to the seller's tax home as discussed earlier.
Payments for goodwill are sourced in the country where the goodwill
was generated if the payments are not contingent on the productivity,
use, or disposition of the property.
Depreciable property.
The gain from the sale of depreciable personal property, up to the
amount of the previously allowable depreciation, is sourced in the
same way as the original deductions were sourced. Thus, to the extent
the previous deductions for depreciation were allocable to U.S. source
income, the gain is U.S. source. To the extent the depreciation
deductions were allocable to foreign sources, the gain is foreign
source income. Gain in excess of the depreciation deductions is
sourced the same as inventory.
If personal property is used predominantly in the United
States, treat the gain from the sale, up to the amount of the
allowable depreciation deductions, entirely as U.S. source income.
If the property is used predominantly outside the United
States, treat the gain, up to the amount of the depreciation
deductions, entirely as foreign source income.
A loss recognized after January 10, 1999, is sourced in the same
way as the depreciation deductions were sourced. However, if the
property was used predominantly outside the United States, the entire
loss reduces foreign source income. You can choose to apply this rule
to losses recognized in tax years beginning after 1986. For details
about making this choice, see section 1.865-1T(f)(2) of the
regulations.
Depreciation includes amortization and any other allowable
deduction for a capital expense that is treated as a deductible
expense.
Sales through foreign office or fixed place of business.
Income earned by U.S. residents from the sale of personal property
through an office or other fixed place of business outside the United
States is generally treated as foreign source if:
- The income from the sale is from the business operations
located outside the United States, and
- At least 10% of the income is paid as tax to the foreign
country.
If less than 10% is paid as tax, the income is U.S. source.
This rule also applies to losses recognized after January 10, 1999,
if the foreign country would have imposed a 10% or higher tax had the
sale resulted in a gain. You can choose to apply this rule to losses
recognized in tax years beginning after 1986. For details about making
this choice, see section 1.865-1T(f)(2) of the regulations. For
stock losses, see section 1.865-2(e) of the regulations.
This rule does not apply to income sourced under the
rules for inventory property, depreciable personal property,
intangible property (when payments in consideration for the sale are
contingent on the productivity, use, or disposition of the property),
or goodwill.
Determining Taxable Income From Sources
Outside the United States
To figure your taxable income in each category from sources outside
the United States, you first allocate to specific classes
(kinds) of gross income the expenses, losses, and other deductions
(including the deduction for foreign housing costs) that are
definitely related to that income.
Definitely related.
A deduction is definitely related to a specific class of gross
income if it is incurred either:
- As a result of, or incident to, an activity from which that
income is derived, or
- In connection with property from which that income is
derived.
Classes of gross income.
You must determine which of the following classes of gross income
your deductions are definitely related to.
- Compensation for services, including wages, salaries, fees,
and commissions.
- Gross income from business.
- Gains from dealings in property.
- Interest.
- Rents.
- Royalties.
- Dividends.
- Alimony and separate maintenance.
- Annuities.
- Pensions.
- Income from life insurance and endowment contracts.
- Income from cancelled debts.
- Your share of partnership gross income.
- Income in respect of a decedent.
- Income from an estate or trust.
Exempt income.
When you allocate deductions that are definitely related to one or
more classes of gross income, you take exempt income into account for
the allocation. However, do not take exempt income into account to
apportion deductions that are not definitely related to a separate
limit category.
Interest expense and state income taxes.
You must allocate and apportion your interest expense and state
income taxes under the special rules discussed later under
Interest expense and State income taxes.
Class of gross income that includes more than one separate
limit category.
If the class of gross income to which a deduction definitely
relates includes either:
- More than one separate limit category, or
- At least one separate limit category and U.S. source
income,
you must apportion the definitely related deductions
within that class of gross income.
To apportion, you can use any method that reflects a reasonable
relationship between the deduction and the income in each separate
limit category. One acceptable method for many individuals is based on
a comparison of the gross income in a class of income to the gross
income in a separate limit income category.
Use the following formula to figure the amount of the definitely
related deduction apportioned to the income in the separate limit
category:
Do not take exempt income into account when
you apportion the deduction. However, income excluded under the
foreign earned income or foreign housing exclusion is not
considered exempt. You must, therefore, apportion deductions to
that income.
Interest expense.
Generally, you apportion your interest expense on the basis of your
assets. However, certain special rules apply. If you have gross
foreign source income (including income that is excluded under the
foreign earned income exclusion) of $5,000 or less, your interest
expense can be allocated entirely to U.S. source income.
Business interest.
Apportion interest incurred in a trade or business using the asset
method based on your business assets.
Under the asset method, you apportion the interest expense to your
separate limit categories based on the value of the assets that
produced the income. You can value assets at fair market value or the
tax book value.
Investment interest.
Apportion this interest on the basis of your investment assets.
Passive activity interest.
Apportion interest incurred in a passive activity on the basis of
your passive activity assets.
Partnership interest.
General partners and limited partners with partnership interests of
10% or more must classify their distributive shares of partnership
interest expense under the three categories listed above. They must
apportion the interest expense according to the rules for those
categories by taking into account their distributive share of
partnership gross income or pro rata share of partnership assets. For
special rules that may apply, see section 1.861-9T(e) of the
regulations.
Home mortgage interest.
This is your deductible home mortgage interest from Schedule A
(Form 1040). Apportion it under a gross income method, taking into
account all income (including business, passive activity, and
investment income), but excluding income that is exempt under the
foreign earned income exclusion. The gross income method is based on a
comparison of the gross income in a separate limit category with total
gross income.
The Instructions for Form 1116 have a worksheet for apportioning
your deductible home mortgage interest expense.
For this purpose, however, any qualified residence that is rented
is considered a business asset for the period in which it is rented.
You therefore apportion this interest under the rules for passive
activity or business interest.
Example.
You are operating a business as a sole proprietorship. Your
business generates only U.S. source income. Your investment portfolio
consists of several less-than-10% stock investments. You have stocks
with an adjusted basis of $100,000. Some of your stocks (with an
adjusted basis of $40,000) generate U.S. source income. Your other
stocks (with an adjusted basis of $60,000) generate foreign passive
income. You own your main home, which is subject to a mortgage of
$120,000. Interest on this loan is home mortgage interest. You also
have a bank loan in the amount of $40,000. The proceeds from the bank
loan were divided equally between your business and your investment
portfolio. Your gross income from your business is $50,000. Your
investment portfolio generated $4,000 in U.S. source income and $6,000
in foreign source passive income. All of your debts bear interest at
the annual rate of 10%.
The interest expense for your business is $2,000. It is apportioned
on the basis of the business assets. All of your business assets
generate U.S. source income; therefore, they are U.S. assets. This
$2,000 is interest expense allocable to U.S. source income.
The interest expense for your investments is also $2,000. It is
apportioned on the basis of investment assets. $800 ($40,000/ $100,000
x $2,000) of your investment interest is apportioned to U.S.
source income and $1,200 ($60,000 / $100,000 x $2,000) is
apportioned to foreign source passive income.
Your home mortgage interest expense is $12,000. It is apportioned
on the basis of all your gross income. Your gross income consists of
$60,000, $54,000 of which is U.S. source income and $6,000 of which is
foreign source passive income. Thus, $1,200 ($6,000 / $60,000 x
$12,000) of the home mortgage interest is apportioned to foreign
source passive income.
State income taxes.
State income taxes (and certain taxes measured by taxable income)
are definitely related and allocable to the gross income on which the
taxes are imposed. If state income tax is imposed in part on foreign
source income, the part of your state tax imposed on the foreign
source income is definitely related and allocable to foreign source
income.
Foreign income not exempt from state tax.
If the state does not specifically exempt foreign income from tax,
the following rules apply.
- If the total income taxed by the state is greater than
the amount of U.S. source income for federal tax purposes, then
the state tax is allocable to both U.S. source and foreign source
income.
- If the total income taxed by the state is less than or
equal to the U.S. source income for federal tax purposes, none
of the state tax is allocable to foreign source income.
Foreign income exempt from state tax.
If state law specifically exempts foreign income from tax, the
state taxes are allocable to the U.S. source income.
Example.
Your total income for federal tax purposes, before deducting state
tax, is $100,000. Of this amount, $25,000 is foreign source income and
$75,000 is U.S. source income. Your total income for state tax
purposes is $90,000, on which you pay state income tax of $6,000. The
state does not specifically exempt foreign source income from tax. The
total state income of $90,000 is greater than the U.S. source income
for federal tax purposes. Therefore, the $6,000 is definitely related
and allocable to both U.S. and foreign source income.
Assuming that $15,000 ($90,000 - $75,000) is the foreign
source income taxed by the state, $1,000 of state income tax is
apportioned to foreign source income, figured as follows:
Deductions not definitely related.
You must apportion to your foreign income in each separate limit
category a fraction of your other deductions that are not
definitely related to a specific class of gross income. If you
itemize, these deductions are medical expenses, charitable
contributions, and real estate taxes for your home. If you do not
itemize, this is your standard deduction. You should also apportion
any other deductions that are not definitely related to a specific
class of income, including deductions shown on Form 1040, lines
23-31a.
The numerator of the fraction is your gross foreign
income in the separate limit category, and the denominator
is your total gross income from all sources. For this purpose,
gross income includes income that is excluded under the foreign earned
income provisions.
Itemized deduction limit.
For 2000, you may have to reduce your itemized deductions on
Schedule A (Form 1040) if your adjusted gross income is more than
$128,950 ($64,475 if married filing separately). This reduction does
not apply to medical and dental expenses, casualty and theft losses,
gambling losses, and investment interest.
You figure the reduction by using the Itemized Deductions
Worksheet in the instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040). Line 3
of the worksheet shows the total itemized deductions subject to the
reduction. Line 9 shows the amount of the reduction.
To determine your taxable income from sources outside the United
States, you must first divide the reduction (line 9 of the worksheet)
by the itemized deductions subject to the reduction (line 3 of the
worksheet). This is your reduction percentage. Then, multiply each
itemized deduction subject to the reduction by your reduction
percentage. Subtract the result from the itemized deduction to
determine the amount you can allocate to income from sources outside
the United States.
Example.
You are single and have an adjusted gross income of $150,000. This
is the amount on line 5 of the worksheet. Your itemized deductions
subject to the reduction total $20,000. This is the amount on line 3
of the worksheet. Reduce your adjusted gross income (line 5) by
$128,950. Enter the result ($21,050) on line 7. The amount on line 8
is $632 ($21,050 x 3%). This amount is also entered on line 9.
You have a charitable contribution deduction of $12,000 shown on
Schedule A (Form 1040) that is subject to the reduction. Your
reduction percentage is 3.1% (632 / $20,000). You must reduce your
$12,000 deduction by $372 (3.1% x $12,000). The reduced
deduction, $11,628 ($12,000 - $372), is used to determine your
taxable income from sources outside the United States.
Treatment of personal exemptions.
Do not take the deduction for personal exemptions, including
exemptions for dependents, in figuring taxable income from sources
outside the United States.
Capital Gains and Losses
If you have any capital gains or losses, you may have to make
certain adjustments when figuring your foreign source taxable income
and your foreign tax credit.
If you file a Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and
Losses, and both lines 16 and 17 of that schedule are gains, you
must adjust the amount you enter on line 17 of Form 1116. You must
also make this adjustment if you received capital gain distributions
and you figured your tax using the Capital Gain Tax Worksheet
(found in the Form 1040 instructions). Complete the
Worksheet for Line 17, found in the Form 1116 instructions,
to figure this amount.
If you have any foreign source capital gain or loss, you must
adjust the amount of capital gain or capital loss you enter on line 1
or 5 of Form 1116. This adjustment is discussed next.
Adjustment for Foreign Source Capital Gains and Losses
You must adjust your foreign source capital gains to reflect U.S.
capital gains tax rates. You do this by completing Worksheet A
in the instructions for Form 1116. Also, your foreign source capital
gain net income included in the amount on line 1 of Form 1116 cannot
exceed your worldwide capital gain net income.
You must adjust your foreign source net capital loss (to the extent
taken into account in determining worldwide capital gain net income)
based on the U.S. tax rate applicable to the worldwide capital gain
the loss offsets. You can use Worksheet B in the Form 1116
instructions to make this required adjustment.
A "foreign Schedule D" is used to make these adjustments to
your foreign source capital gains and losses.
However, a "foreign Capital Gain Tax Worksheet" is used to
make adjustments to your foreign source capital gain distributions if
you figured your tax using the Capital Gain Tax Worksheet,
instead of Schedule D.
You must complete the "foreign Schedule D" or the
"foreign Capital Gain Tax Worksheet" before completing
Worksheet A or B.
Foreign Schedule D.
If you had a foreign source capital gain (and line 17 of the
Schedule D you file with your U.S. tax return shows zero or a positive
number) or a foreign source capital loss, you must complete a separate
Schedule D using only your foreign source capital gains and losses. On
this "foreign Schedule D," complete Parts I, II, and III.
If Part lll, line 17, is a gain, complete Part lV (through line 50)
of that Schedule D. Also complete the Worksheet for Line 17
and Worksheet A (Capital Gains) in the instructions for
Form 1116.
If Part lll, line 17, is a loss, you can use Worksheet B
(Capital Losses) in the instructions for Form 1116 to make the
adjustment.
Use your foreign Schedule D only to compute the adjusted amounts.
Do not file it with your return.
Foreign Capital Gain Tax Worksheet.
If you figured your tax using the Capital Gain Tax Worksheet
and some or all of your capital gain distributions were foreign
source, you must complete a separate Capital Gain Tax Worksheet
using only foreign capital gain distributions. See the
Instructions for Form 1116 for special instructions for
completing this foreign Capital Gain Tax Worksheet and
Worksheet A.
Use your foreign Capital Gain Tax Worksheet only to
compute the adjusted amounts. Do not file it with your
return.
More than one category.
If you have foreign source capital gains or losses from more than
one separate limit income category, complete a separate foreign
Schedule D for each category. Then, depending on whether the category
has a gain or a loss on line 17, use whichever of the following
procedures applies.
Loss categories.
For each category for which line 17 of the foreign Schedule D shows
a loss, you must adjust the amount of your foreign loss (to the extent
taken into account in determining your worldwide capital gain net
income) based on the tax rate applicable to the worldwide gain the
loss offsets. You can use Worksheet B (Capital Losses) in
the Form 1116 instructions to make this required adjustment. To do so,
add together the net losses (from line 17 of your foreign Schedules D)
of all the separate limitation categories that have losses on line 17
of the foreign Schedule D. Enter the total of all the net losses, to
the extent taken into account in determining your worldwide capital
gain net income, on line 1 of Worksheet B. Complete
Worksheet B. Use only one Worksheet B for all of
your loss categories. Your adjusted net capital loss appears on line
16 of Worksheet B. Then take the following steps.
- Add together the net losses (from line 17 of your foreign
Schedules D) of all of your loss categories.
- For each loss category, divide the loss from line 17 of that
category's foreign Schedule D by the amount in step 1.
- For each loss category, multiply the amount from step 2 by
your adjusted net loss (line 16 of Worksheet B). This is
your adjusted net loss amount for that loss category that you include
on line 5 of that category's Form 1116. The amount on line 5 of that
category's Form 1116 cannot include more capital loss than the
adjusted net loss amount for that category.
Gain categories.
If you have foreign source capital gains from more than one
separate limitation income category, take the following steps.
- For each separate limitation income category that has a gain
(or zero) on line 17 of its foreign Schedule D, complete
Worksheet A in the Form 1116 instructions. Complete a
separate Worksheet A for each gain category.
- Total your adjusted foreign capital gains from line 12 of
each Worksheet A. From this total subtract the total of all
of your adjusted foreign source capital losses in all loss categories
(which appears on line 16 of Worksheet B , as discussed
under Loss categories earlier).
- Compare the amount from step 2 to the amount on line 12 of
the Worksheet for Line 17 in the Form 1116 instructions.
(The foreign capital gain net income taken into account for purposes
of the foreign tax credit cannot exceed your worldwide capital gain
net income.)
If the amount on line 12 of the Worksheet for Line 17 is
equal to or greater than the amount in step 2, no further adjustment
is necessary. For each category, include the amount determined in step
1 as capital gain on line 1, Form 1116, or the amount determined under
Loss categories as capital loss on line 5, Form 1116. The
amount of capital gain included on line 1 of a category's Form 1116
cannot exceed the amount determined under step 1.
See Allocation of Foreign Losses and Recapture of
Foreign Losses, later.
If the amount on line 12 of the Worksheet for Line 17 is
less than the amount from step 2, you must allocate the difference to
your gain categories. You reduce the gain for each category by an
amount figured by multiplying the difference by the adjusted gain in a
particular category divided by the total of all adjusted capital gains
from all gain categories (not your net gain from step 2, which has
been reduced by losses).
Examples.
The following examples show how to make the required adjustments
if you have foreign source capital gains and losses in more than one
separate limitation income category.
Example 1.
Your total adjusted foreign capital gain is $25,000 (determined by
adding the adjusted capital gains from line 12 of your Worksheets A
for each of your gain categories). All categories have gains on line
16 and line 17 of their foreign Schedules D. $5,000 is from the
general limitation category. The amount on line 12 of the
Worksheet for Line 17 (your adjusted worldwide net capital
gain) is $22,580. Since that amount is less than the amount from step
2, you must allocate the difference, $2,420 ($25,000 - $22,580)
to each of the categories. You must reduce the gain in the general
limitation category by $484 ($5,000/$25,000 x $2,420). On the
Form 1116 that you complete for the general limitation category, you
would include $4,516 ($5,000 - $484) of your capital gain on
line 1. If you had $10,000 of ordinary income (such as wages) in the
general limitation category, the total amount on line 1 of that
category's Form 1116 would be $14,516 ($4,516 of capital gain +
$10,000 of ordinary income).
Example 2.
Your total foreign loss is $5,000. It consists of a passive
category loss of $2,000 and a general limitation category loss of
$3,000 (as shown on line 17 of your foreign Schedules D for those
categories). Assume your adjusted net capital loss (from line 16 of
Worksheet B) is $2,222. For the passive category, the
amount of capital loss to include on line 5 of Form 1116 is $889
($2,000/$5,000 x $2,222).
Example 3.
You have a net gain on line 17 of the Schedule D you are filing
with your Form 1040. You have net foreign source capital gains in your
passive separate limit category and your general limitation category
(from line 17 of the foreign Schedules D for those categories). You
have a net foreign source capital loss in your shipping separate limit
category (shown on line 17 of your foreign Schedule D for that
category).
You complete Worksheet A in the Form 1116 instructions
separately for the passive and general limitation categories. The
amount on line 12 of Worksheet A is $2,000 for the passive
category and $3,000 for the general limitation category. Therefore,
your total adjusted foreign capital gain is $5,000 ($2,000 + $3,000).
You complete Worksheet B for the shipping category, and
the amount on line 16 of that worksheet is $1,000. Because the
shipping category is your only loss category, all of the $1,000
adjusted foreign capital loss belongs in that category. The excess of
your adjusted gains over your adjusted losses (your net adjusted
capital gain) is $4,000 ($5,000 - $1,000).
Assume $1,500 appears on line 12 of the Worksheet for Line 17
in the Form 1116 instructions. This amount is less than your
foreign net adjusted capital gain. The excess of your net adjusted
capital gain over the amount from the Worksheet for Line 17
(your worldwide net adjusted capital gain) is $2,500 ($4,000
- $1,500). Because your foreign capital gain cannot exceed your
worldwide capital gain in the foreign tax credit calculation
(reflected on the Form 1116), you must allocate this $2,500 excess, as
a reduction, between your foreign net capital gain categories based on
the portion of your total foreign adjusted capital gain that is
attributable to each category. On line 1 of your passive category Form
1116, you include $1,000 ($2,000 - ($2,500 x
$2,000/$5,000)).
On line 1 of your general limitation category Form 1116, you
include $1,500 ($3,000 - ($2,500 x $3,000/$5,000)).
For the shipping category, the $1,000 adjusted capital loss should
be included on line 5 of the Form 1116.
Example 4.
The facts are the same as in Example 3, except that line
12 of the Worksheet for Line 17 shows $6,000. This amount
is more than your $4,000 foreign net adjusted capital gain, so no
further adjustment is necessary. Include the $2,000, $3,000, and
$1,000 amounts on the Forms 1116 for the appropriate categories.
Example 5.
You have net capital losses of $3,000 in the passive separate limit
category and $4,000 in the general limitation category (from line 17
of the foreign Schedules D for those categories).
You have a net capital gain of $2,000 in the shipping category
(from line 17 of the foreign Schedule D for that category).
Your total foreign source capital loss is $7,000 ($3,000 + $4,000).
All $7,000 is taken into account in determining worldwide capital gain
net income for the year, so all $7,000 must be adjusted. You include
all $7,000 on line 1 of Worksheet B in the Form 1116
instructions. Assume $4,500 is the amount on line 16 of Worksheet
B. The amount to include on line 5 of your passive category Form
1116 is $1,929 ($4,500 x $3,000/$7,000). The amount to include
on line 5 of your general limitation category Form 1116 is $2,571
($4,500 x $4,000/$7,000). Complete Worksheet A in the
Form 1116 instructions for your shipping category, to determine the
amount of capital gain to include on line 1 of your shipping category
Form 1116.
Allocation of
Foreign Losses
If you have a foreign loss when figuring your taxable income in a
separate limit income category, and you have income in one or more of
the other separate categories, you must first reduce the income in
these other categories by the loss before reducing income from U.S.
sources.
Example.
You have $10,000 of income in the passive income category and incur
a loss of $5,000 in the general limitation income category. You must
use the $5,000 loss to offset $5,000 of the income in the passive
category.
How to allocate.
You must allocate foreign losses among the separate limit income
categories in the same proportion as each category's income bears to
total foreign income.
Example.
You have a $2,000 loss in the general limitation income category,
$3,000 of passive income, and $2,000 in distributions from a FSC. You
must allocate the $2,000 loss to the income in the other separate
categories. 60% ($3,000/$5,000) of the $2,000 loss (or $1,200) reduces
passive income and 40% ($2,000/$5,000) or $800 reduces FSC
distributions.
Loss more than foreign income.
If you have a loss remaining after reducing the income in other
separate limit categories, use the remaining loss to reduce U.S.
source income. When you use a foreign loss to offset U.S. source
income, you must recapture the loss as explained later under
Recapture of Foreign Losses.
Recharacterization of subsequent income in a loss category.
If you use a loss in one separate limit category (category A) to
reduce the amount of income in another category or categories
(category B and/or category C) and, in a later year you have income in
category A, you must, in that later year, recharacterize some or all
of the income from category A as income from category B and/or
category C.
Do not recharacterize the tax.
Example.
The facts are the same as in the previous example. However, in the
next year you have $4,000 of passive income, $1,000 in FSC
distributions, and $5,000 of general limitation income. Since $1,200
of the general limitation loss was used to reduce your passive income
in the previous year, $1,200 of the current year's general limitation
income of $5,000 must be recharacterized as passive income. This makes
the current year's total of passive income $5,200 ($4,000 + $1,200).
Similarly, $800 of the general limitation income must be
recharacterized as FSC distributions, making the current year's total
of FSC distributions $1,800 ($1,000 + $800). The total income in the
general limitation category is $3,000 ($5,000 - $1,200 -
$800).
U.S. losses.
Allocate any net loss from sources in the United States among the
different categories of foreign income after:
- Allocating all foreign losses as described earlier,
- Recapturing any prior year overall foreign loss as described
below, and
- Recharacterizing foreign source income as described above.
Recapture of Foreign Losses
If you have only losses in your separate limit categories, or if
you have a loss remaining after allocating your foreign losses to
other separate categories, you have an overall foreign loss. If you
use this loss to offset U.S. source income (resulting in a reduction
of your U.S. tax liability), you must recapture your loss in each
succeeding year in which you have taxable income from foreign sources
in the same separate limit category. You must recapture the overall
loss regardless of whether you chose to claim the foreign tax credit
for the loss year.
You recapture the loss by treating part of your taxable income from
foreign sources in a later year as U.S. source income. In addition,
if, in a later year, you sell or otherwise dispose of property used in
your foreign trade or business, you may have to recognize gain and
treat it as U.S. source income, even if the disposition would
otherwise be nontaxable. See Dispositions, later. The
amount you treat as U.S. source income reduces the foreign source
income, and therefore reduces the foreign tax credit limit.
You must establish separate accounts for each type of foreign loss
that you sustain. The balances in these accounts are the overall
foreign loss subject to recapture. Reduce these balances at the end of
each tax year by the loss that you recaptured. You must attach a
statement to your Form 1116 to report the balances (if any) in your
overall foreign loss accounts.
Overall foreign loss.
An overall foreign loss is the amount by which your gross income
from foreign sources for a tax year is exceeded by the sum of your
expenses, losses, or other deductions that you allocated and
apportioned to foreign income under the rules explained earlier under
Determining Taxable Income From Sources Outside The United
States. But see Losses not considered, later, for
exceptions.
Example.
You are single and have gross dividend income of $10,000 from U.S.
sources. You also have a greater-than-10% interest in a foreign
partnership in which you materially participate. The partnership has a
loss for the year, and your distributive share of the loss is $15,000.
Your share of the partnership's gross income is $100,000, and your
share of its expenses is $115,000. Your only foreign source income is
your share of partnership income which is in the general limitation
income category. You are a bona fide resident of a foreign country and
you elect to exclude your foreign earned income. You exclude the
maximum $76,000. You also have itemized deductions of $4,700 that are
not definitely related to any item of income.
In figuring your overall foreign loss in the general limitation
category for the year, you must allocate a ratable part of the $4,700
in itemized deductions to the foreign source income. You figure the
ratable part of the $4,700 that is for foreign source income, based on
gross income, as follows:
Therefore, your overall foreign loss for the year is
$7,873, figured as follows:
Foreign gross income |
| $100,000 |
Less: |
Foreign earned income exclusion |
$76,000 |
| Allowable definitely related expenses
($24,000/100,000 x $115,000) |
27,600 |
| Ratable part of itemized deductions |
4,273 |
107,873 |
Overall foreign loss |
$7,873 |
Losses not considered.
You do not consider the following in figuring an overall foreign
loss in a given year.
- Net operating loss deduction.
- Foreign expropriation loss not compensated by insurance or
other reimbursement.
- Casualty or theft loss not compensated by insurance or other
reimbursement.
Recapture provision.
If you have an overall foreign loss for any tax year and use the
loss to offset U.S. source income, part of your foreign source taxable
income (in the same separate limit category as the loss) for each
succeeding year is treated as U.S. source taxable income. The part
that is treated as U.S. source taxable income is the least
of:
- The balance in the applicable overall foreign loss account,
- 50% (or a larger percentage that you can choose) of your
foreign source taxable income for the succeeding tax year, or
- The foreign source taxable income for the succeeding tax
year which is in the same separate limit category as the loss after
the allocation of foreign losses (discussed earlier).
Example.
During 1999 and 2000, you were single and a 20% general partner in
a partnership that derived its income from Country X. You also
received dividend income from U.S. sources during those years.
For 1999, the partnership had a loss and your share was $20,000,
consisting of $100,000 gross income less $120,000 expenses. Your net
loss from the partnership was $5,200, after deducting the foreign
earned income exclusion and definitely related allowable expenses.This
loss is related to income in the general limitation category. Your
U.S. dividend income was $20,000. Your itemized deductions totaled
$5,000 and were not definitely related to any item of income. In
figuring your taxable income for 1999, you deducted your share of the
partnership loss from Country X from your U.S. source income.
During 2000, the partnership had net income from Country X. Your
share of the net income was $40,000, consisting of $100,000 gross
income less $60,000 expenses. Your net income from the partnership was
$9,600, after deducting the foreign earned income exclusion and the
definitely related allowable expenses. This loss is related to income
in the general limitation category. You also received dividend income
of $20,000 from U.S. sources. Your itemized deductions were $6,000,
which are not definitely related to any item of income. You paid
income taxes of $4,000 to Country X on your share of the partnership
income.
When figuring your foreign tax credit for 2000, you must find the
foreign source taxable income that you must treat as U.S. source
income because of the foreign loss recapture provisions.
You figure the foreign taxable income that you must recapture as
follows:
A. |
Determination of 1999 Overall Foreign
Loss |
1) |
Partnership loss from Country X |
$5,200 |
2) |
Add: Part of itemized deductions allocable to gross
income from Country X |
3) |
Overall foreign loss for 1999 |
$9,367 |
B. |
Amount of Recapture for 2000 |
1) |
Balance in general limitation category
foreign loss account |
$9,367 |
2) |
Foreign source net income |
$9,600 |
| Less: |
| Itemized deductions allocable to foreign source
net income ($100,000 / $120,000 x $6,000) |
5,000 |
$4,600 |
3) |
50% of taxable income subject to recapture
|
$2,300 |
4) |
Taxable income in general limitation category
after allocation of foreign losses--General limitation income |
$9,600 |
| Less: |
| Itemized deductions allocable to that income ($100,000
/ $120,000 x $6,000) |
5,000 |
| General limitation taxable income less
allocated foreign losses : ($4,600 - 0) |
$4,600 |
5) |
Recapture for 2000 (least of (1), (3), or
(4)) |
$2,300 |
The amount of the recapture is shown on line 15, Form 1116.
Recapturing more overall foreign loss than required.
If you want to make an election or change a prior election to
recapture a greater part of the balance of an overall foreign loss
account than is required (as discussed earlier), you must attach a
statement to your Form 1116 making the election. If you change a prior
year's election, you should file Form 1040X.
The statement you attach to Form 1116 must show:
- The percentage and amount of your foreign taxable income
that you are treating as U.S. source income, and
- The balance (both before and after the recapture) in the
overall foreign loss account that you are recapturing.
Deduction for foreign taxes.
You can recapture part (or all, if applicable) of an overall
foreign loss in tax years in which you deduct, rather than credit,
your foreign taxes. You recapture the lesser of:
- The balance in the applicable overall foreign loss account,
or
- The foreign source taxable income of the same separate limit
category that resulted in the overall foreign loss minus the foreign
taxes imposed on that income.
Dispositions.
If you dispose of appreciated trade or business property used
predominantly outside the United States, and that property generates
foreign source taxable income of the same separate limit category that
resulted in an overall foreign loss, the disposition is subject to the
recapture rules. You are considered to have received and recognized
foreign source taxable income in the year you dispose of the property.
The foreign source income that you are considered to have received
and recognized on the property and that you must treat as U.S. source
income is 100% of the lesser of:
- The fair market value of the property that is more than your
adjusted basis, or
- The remaining amount of the overall foreign loss not treated
as U.S. source income in the current year or any prior tax year.
Predominant use outside United States.
Property is used predominantly outside the United States if it was
located outside the United States more than 50% of the time during the
3-year period ending on the date of disposition. If you used the
property fewer than 3 years, count the use during the period it was
used in a trade or business.
Disposition defined.
A disposition includes the following transactions.
- A sale, exchange, distribution, or gift of property.
- A transfer upon the foreclosure of a security interest (but
not a mere transfer of title to a creditor or debtor upon creation or
termination of a security interest).
- An involuntary conversion.
- A contribution to a partnership, trust, or
corporation.
- A transfer at death.
- Any other transfer of property whether or not gain or loss
is normally recognized on the transfer.
The character of the income recognized solely because of the
disposition rules is the same as if you had sold or exchanged the
property.
However, a disposition does not include:
- A disposition of property that is not a material factor in
producing income, or
- A transaction in which gross income is not realized.
Basis adjustment.
If gain is recognized on a disposition solely because of an overall
foreign loss account balance at the time of the disposition, the
recipient of the property can increase its basis by the amount of gain
deemed recognized. If the property was transferred by gift, its basis
in the hands of the donor immediately prior to the gift is increased
by the amount of gain deemed recognized.
Tax Treaties
The United States is a party to tax treaties that are designed, in
part, to prevent double taxation of the same income by the United
States and the treaty country. Many treaties do this by allowing you
to treat U.S. source income as foreign source income. Certain treaties
have special rules you must consider when figuring your foreign tax
credit if you are a U.S. citizen residing in the treaty country. These
rules generally allow an additional credit for part of the tax imposed
by the treaty partner on U.S. source income. It is separate from, and
in addition to, your foreign tax credit for foreign taxes paid or
accrued on foreign source income. The treaties that provide for this
additional credit include those with Australia, Austria, Canada,
Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands,
New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden, and Switzerland.
There is a worksheet at the end of this publication to help you
figure the additional credit. But do not use this worksheet to figure
the additional credit under the treaties with Australia and New
Zealand. Also, do not use this worksheet for income that is in the
"Income re-sourced by treaty" category discussed earlier under
Separate Limit Income.
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You can get more information, and the worksheet to figure the
additional credit under the Australia and New Zealand treaties, by
writing to:
Internal Revenue Service
International Returns Section
P.O. Box 920
Bensalem, PA 19020-8518.
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You can also contact the United States Revenue Service
Representatives at the U.S. Embassies in Berlin, London, Mexico City,
Paris, Rome, Singapore, and Tokyo, as appropriate, for assistance.
Report required.
You may have to report certain information with your return if you
claim a foreign tax credit under a treaty provision. For example, if a
treaty provision allows you to take a foreign tax credit for a
specific tax that is not allowed by the Internal Revenue Code, you
must report this information with your return. To report the necessary
information, use Form 8833,
Treaty-Based Return Position
Disclosure Under Section 6114 or 7701(b).
If you do not report this information, you may have to pay a
penalty of $1,000.
You do not have to file Form 8833 if you are claiming the
additional foreign tax credit (discussed previously).
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