Filing a joint return with more that $600 of foreign tax withheld, results in a credit of less than $600 after filling out Form 1116. Do the IRS rules allow me to skip the Form 1116 and take the $600 credit on the joint return as I believe was allowable years ago, but can’t find anything about it now?
Probably not. Since you paid more than $600 in foreign taxes, you are required to fill out Form 1116. Per the Form 1116 instructions i1116.pdf (irs.gov)
I would suggest carefully going through all of your inputs to be sure that they are correct. It may be that some of the taxes you paid are not creditable. The instructions for Form 1116 can provide you more information on that, too. If not all of the taxes are creditable, so that you have less than $600 in creditable taxes, you wouldn’t have to file Form 1116, but you also could only claim those taxes that are creditable.
AJ
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