Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: Questions 13 to 24 of Schedule B ask about foreign partners and foreign entities, Forms 1099, Form 8938, section 267A interest and royalties, and the business interest expense limit. Each one is a yes or no box, a count of attached forms, or a single amount. The answers come from the partnership’s own filings and records, and several of them tell you to attach another form.
Questions 13a to 15: foreign entities, foreign partners and Form 8865
Question 13a asks you to “enter the number of Forms 8858 attached”. The instructions say “Enter the number of Forms 8858, Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect To Foreign Disregarded Entities (FDEs) and Foreign Branches (FBs), that are attached to the return.” Question 13b is printed as “Reserved for future use”. See Form 8858 for the form itself.
Question 14 reads “Does the partnership have any foreign partners?”. The instructions tell you to answer it for “if the partnership had any foreign partners (for purposes of section 1446(a)) at any time during the tax year.” They add: “If the partnership had gross income effectively connected with a trade or business in the United States and foreign partners, it may be required to withhold tax under section 1446(a) on income allocable to foreign partners”.
Question 15 reads “Enter the number of Forms 8865, Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships, attached to this return”. The instructions have no separate paragraph for question 15, so the printed caption is the guidance the form gives. The form itself is explained at Form 8865.
Question 16: payments that require a Form 1099
Question 16a reads “Did you make any payments in 2025 that would require you to file Form(s) 1099?” and 16b follows with “did you or will you file required Form(s) 1099?”. The instructions say “If the partnership made any payment in 2025 that would require the partnership to file any Form(s) 1099” you answer yes to 16a and “answer question 16b”, while a no on 16a means you “skip question 16b”. For the 1099 forms themselves, see the 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC box guide.
Questions 17 to 19: Form 5471, foreign governments and Forms 1042 and 1042-S
Question 17 reads “Enter the number of Forms 5471, Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations, attached to this return”. Question 18 reads “Enter the number of partners that are foreign governments under section 892”. The instructions have no separate paragraph for question 17 or 18. See Form 5471 for the Form 5471 count.
Question 19 reads “During the partnership’s tax year, did the partnership make any payments, or receive any payments allocable to foreign partners, that would require it to file Forms 1042 and 1042-S under chapter 3 (sections 1441 through 1464) or chapter 4 (sections 1471 through 1474)?” The list of 2025 changes in the instructions says “Question 19 has been updated to include payments received that are allocable to foreign partners.” The recipient-side form is covered at Form 1042-S.
Questions 20 and 21: Form 8938 and section 721(c) partnerships
Question 20 reads “Was the partnership a specified domestic entity required to file Form 8938 for the tax year?”. The instructions say “domestic partnerships that are formed or availed of to hold specified foreign financial assets (specified domestic entities) must file Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets, with its Form 1065 for the tax year”. They also say “Form 8938 must be filed each year the value of the partnership’s specified foreign financial assets meets or exceeds the reporting threshold.” The form is covered at Form 8938.
Question 21 reads “Is the partnership a section 721(c) partnership, as defined in Regulations section 1.721(c)-1(b)(14)?”. The instructions have no separate question 21 paragraph, but their general definitions say “A partnership (domestic or foreign) is a section 721(c) partnership if there is a contribution of section 721(c) property to the partnership and, after the contribution (and all transactions related to the contribution), (a) a related foreign person with respect to the U.S. transferor is a direct or indirect partner in the partnership; and (b) the U.S. transferor and related persons own 80% or more of the interests in partnership capital, profits, deductions, or losses.”
Questions 22 to 24: section 267A and the business interest limit
Question 22 reads “did the partnership pay or accrue any interest or royalty for which one or more partners are not allowed a deduction under section 267A?” with the follow-up “enter the total amount of the disallowed deductions”. The instructions say “On the entry line for question 22, report the total amount of interest and royalty paid or accrued by the partnership for which the partnership knows, or has reason to know, that one or more partners’ distributive shares of deductions are disallowed under section 267A.”
Question 23 reads “Did the partnership have an election under section 163(j) for any real property trade or business or any farming business in effect during the tax year?”. The instructions say “Certain real property trades or businesses and farming businesses qualify to make an election not to limit BIE. This is an irrevocable election.” They add “If you make this election, you’re required to use the alternative depreciation system to depreciate certain property.”
Question 24 reads “Does the partnership satisfy one or more of the following?”. The three parts are “The partnership owns a passthrough entity with current, or prior year carryover, excess business interest expense.” and “The partnership’s aggregate average annual gross receipts (determined under section 448(c)) for the 3 tax years preceding the current tax year are more than $31 million and the partnership has business interest expense.” and “The partnership is a tax shelter (see instructions) and the partnership has business interest expense.”. The form then says to “complete and attach Form 8990”. The instructions define the gross receipts test this way: “A taxpayer meets the gross receipts test if the taxpayer has average annual gross receipts of $31 million or less for the 3 prior tax years.” They also say “A small business taxpayer isn’t subject to the BIE limitation and isn’t required to file Form 8990.” The form is explained at Form 8990.
Where the number comes from
Nothing in questions 13 to 24 is calculated on this page of the return. The counts in 13a, 15 and 17 are the number of those forms you attach, the 22 amount is what the instructions describe as the total interest and royalty for which partners’ deductions are disallowed, and the yes or no answers come from the partnership’s own records. Questions 7 to 12 are on the questions 7 to 12 page.
Where it goes next
Several answers point to another form. Question 24 says to “complete and attach Form 8990”. The later questions are on the questions 25 to 33 page, and the whole return is walked through at Form 1065.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Form 1065 and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-18. They are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. Form 1065 has no attach-to caption, so check the form’s own title and header instead. The title line reads “U.S. Return of Partnership Income” and the header reads “For calendar year 2025, or tax year beginning”. Check the tax year printed on the form you are filling in and use that year’s line numbers, because a different year’s form can number or word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Answering question 16b when 16a is a no. The instructions say a no on 16a means you “skip question 16b”.
- Answering only one part of question 24. The form asks “Does the partnership satisfy one or more of the following?” and the three parts are separate tests.
- Treating the election in question 23 as one that can be undone. The instructions say “This is an irrevocable election.”
Related: Form 1065, Form 8865, Form 8938, Form 8990, and Form 5471.
Sources
- Instructions for Form 1065, U.S. Return of Partnership Income (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1065.pdf
- Form 1065, U.S. Return of Partnership Income (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1065.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 18, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.