Skip to main content
Personal Finance & Money

Return to Question

Post Reopened by Franck Dernoncourt, Ben Miller, Chris W. Rea, Grade 'Eh' Bacon, RonJohn
Post Closed as "Opinion-based" by base64, Bob Baerker, Ellie K, mhoran_psprep, RiverNet
added 201 characters in body
Source Link
Franck Dernoncourt
Franck Dernoncourt
  • 11.5k
  • 12
  • 54
  • 139

I read in the Turbotax instructions in the section "Deductions & Credits" -> "Income From Foreign Countries" for dividend income:

When you have foreign income from multiple countries, the IRS requires you to report it per country, unless it comes from a Regulated Investment Company (RIC).

Why does the IRS require US taxpayers to report dividend income per country, instead of simply allowing taxpayers to mark them as "foreign"?

I did read:

NOTE: A foreign tax credit is NOT allowed from the following countries: Cuba (until 12/21/2015), Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.

so assuming that none of the dividends come from one of these banned countries, I don't see why the IRS has such a requirement, which is quite tedious to respect in Turbotax, as Turbotax requires one 1099-DIV for each country for which we want to report foreign tax:

Example: Let's say your Form 1099-DIV reports $1,000 in dividends. $100 from France, $50 from Canada and $850 from the US. Rather than entering one Form 1099-DIV, you'll enter three of them. The first copy is for $850 with no foreign tax since it's US income. The second copy is $100 with foreign tax equal to what you paid France. The third copy is $50 with foreign tax equal to what you paid Canada.

E.g., if one Fidelity's account has received dividends from 10 countries, then one has to divide Fidelity's 1099-DIV into 10 different 1099-DIV forms oneself assuming dividends don't come from RICs. And if one has 5 US brokerage accounts, each of them with receiving dividends from 10 countries, then one must enter 50 different (= 5 x 10) 1099-DIV forms in Turbotax if one seeks foreign tax credit.

I read in the Turbotax instructions in the section "Deductions & Credits" -> "Income From Foreign Countries" for dividend income:

When you have foreign income from multiple countries, the IRS requires you to report it per country, unless it comes from a Regulated Investment Company (RIC).

Why does the IRS require US taxpayers to report dividend income per country, instead of simply allowing taxpayers to mark them as "foreign"?

I did read:

NOTE: A foreign tax credit is NOT allowed from the following countries: Cuba (until 12/21/2015), Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.

so assuming that none of the dividends come from one of these banned countries, I don't see why the IRS has such a requirement, which is quite tedious to respect in Turbotax, as Turbotax requires one 1099-DIV for each country for which we want to report foreign tax:

Example: Let's say your Form 1099-DIV reports $1,000 in dividends. $100 from France, $50 from Canada and $850 from the US. Rather than entering one Form 1099-DIV, you'll enter three of them. The first copy is for $850 with no foreign tax since it's US income. The second copy is $100 with foreign tax equal to what you paid France. The third copy is $50 with foreign tax equal to what you paid Canada.

E.g., if one Fidelity's account has received dividends from 10 countries, then one has to divide Fidelity's 1099-DIV into 10 different 1099-DIV forms oneself assuming dividends don't come from RICs.

I read in the Turbotax instructions in the section "Deductions & Credits" -> "Income From Foreign Countries" for dividend income:

When you have foreign income from multiple countries, the IRS requires you to report it per country, unless it comes from a Regulated Investment Company (RIC).

Why does the IRS require US taxpayers to report dividend income per country, instead of simply allowing taxpayers to mark them as "foreign"?

I did read:

NOTE: A foreign tax credit is NOT allowed from the following countries: Cuba (until 12/21/2015), Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.

so assuming that none of the dividends come from one of these banned countries, I don't see why the IRS has such a requirement, which is quite tedious to respect in Turbotax, as Turbotax requires one 1099-DIV for each country for which we want to report foreign tax:

Example: Let's say your Form 1099-DIV reports $1,000 in dividends. $100 from France, $50 from Canada and $850 from the US. Rather than entering one Form 1099-DIV, you'll enter three of them. The first copy is for $850 with no foreign tax since it's US income. The second copy is $100 with foreign tax equal to what you paid France. The third copy is $50 with foreign tax equal to what you paid Canada.

E.g., if one Fidelity's account has received dividends from 10 countries, then one has to divide Fidelity's 1099-DIV into 10 different 1099-DIV forms oneself assuming dividends don't come from RICs. And if one has 5 US brokerage accounts, each of them with receiving dividends from 10 countries, then one must enter 50 different (= 5 x 10) 1099-DIV forms in Turbotax if one seeks foreign tax credit.

Source Link
Franck Dernoncourt
Franck Dernoncourt
  • 11.5k
  • 12
  • 54
  • 139

Why does the IRS require US taxpayers to report dividend income per country when seeking foreign tax credit?

I read in the Turbotax instructions in the section "Deductions & Credits" -> "Income From Foreign Countries" for dividend income:

When you have foreign income from multiple countries, the IRS requires you to report it per country, unless it comes from a Regulated Investment Company (RIC).

Why does the IRS require US taxpayers to report dividend income per country, instead of simply allowing taxpayers to mark them as "foreign"?

I did read:

NOTE: A foreign tax credit is NOT allowed from the following countries: Cuba (until 12/21/2015), Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.

so assuming that none of the dividends come from one of these banned countries, I don't see why the IRS has such a requirement, which is quite tedious to respect in Turbotax, as Turbotax requires one 1099-DIV for each country for which we want to report foreign tax:

Example: Let's say your Form 1099-DIV reports $1,000 in dividends. $100 from France, $50 from Canada and $850 from the US. Rather than entering one Form 1099-DIV, you'll enter three of them. The first copy is for $850 with no foreign tax since it's US income. The second copy is $100 with foreign tax equal to what you paid France. The third copy is $50 with foreign tax equal to what you paid Canada.

E.g., if one Fidelity's account has received dividends from 10 countries, then one has to divide Fidelity's 1099-DIV into 10 different 1099-DIV forms oneself assuming dividends don't come from RICs.