Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: Before Part I, Form 1116 asks you to check one box for the category of foreign income the form covers, and line i asks for the foreign country or U.S. territory. Each category gets its own form. The instructions describe what income belongs in each category, and this page walks through them in order.
What goes above Part I
The form opens with this instruction: “Use a separate Form 1116 for each category of income listed below.” It adds “Check only one box on each Form 1116.” The instructions repeat the point: “Use a separate Form 1116 to figure the credit for each category of foreign source income listed above Part I of Form 1116.” This page is part of the Form 1116 line-by-line walk-through.
The boxes, one at a time
The form prints eight boxes. Boxes a to g name a category, and box h is a residence entry. The instructions describe boxes a to g under the heading Categories of Income.
| Box | Form caption | What the instructions say |
|---|---|---|
| a | “Section 951A category income” | “Section 951A category income includes any amount included in gross income under section 951A (other than passive category income).” |
| b | “Foreign branch category income” | “Foreign branch category income consists of the business profits of U.S. persons that are attributable to one or more QBUs in one or more foreign countries.” |
| c | “Passive category income” | “Passive category income consists of passive income and specified passive category income.” |
| d | “General category income” | “General category income is income that isn’t section 951A category income, foreign branch category income, passive category income, or income described in categories e, f, and g, discussed later.” |
| e | “Section 901(j) income” | “you must use a separate Form 1116 for income derived from each sanctioned country.” |
| f | “Certain income resourced by treaty” | you “must compute a separate foreign tax credit limitation for any income for which you claim benefits under a treaty” |
| g | “Lump-sum distributions” | “On this separate Form 1116, check box g above Part I.” |
Box h reads “Resident of (name of country)”. The instructions have no separate paragraph for box h, so the printed caption is all the form gives you for it.
Passive and general income, in the IRS’s words
For passive income the instructions say “Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, royalties, rents, annuities, excess of gains over losses from the sale of property that produces such income or of non-income-producing investment property, and excess of gains over losses from foreign currency or commodities transactions.” For general income they say it “may include the following.” The first bullet is “Wages, salary, and overseas allowances of an individual as an employee.” Foreign tax that your broker reports on a 1099 is covered at 1099-DIV box 7 foreign tax.
Line i: the foreign country or U.S. territory
The form caption is “Enter the name of the foreign country or U.S. territory”. Directly under the category boxes the form adds “If you paid taxes to only one foreign country or U.S. territory, use column A in Part I and line A in Part II.”
The instructions say “Generally, if you received income from, or paid taxes to, more than one foreign country or U.S. territory, report information on a country-by-country basis on Form 1116, Parts I and II.” They add “If you paid taxes to more than three countries or territories, attach additional sheets following the format of Parts I and II.”
Special entries for line i
For some income the instructions let you skip the country-by-country listing and write a code on line i instead. For mutual fund pass-through amounts, “Enter “RIC” on line i.” For section 951A inclusions, “enter “951A” on line i.” For certain services or inventory income, “Enter “863(b)” on line i.” For earlier foreign tax credit splitting events, “enter “909 income” on line i for that income instead of the country or territory name.”
Where the number comes from
Nothing on this part of the form is a calculated amount. You choose the box from the kind of foreign income you received, and you write the country from the statement or record that shows where the income arose. The next step is lines 1a and 1b, where the income itself goes, and the country you name on line i is the country whose income that column holds. The foreign tax credit itself reaches your return through Schedule 3 line 1.
Where it goes next
Each category’s result is carried to its own line in Part IV. The Part IV heading reads “Summary of Separate Credits From Parts III”, and the matching lines are 25 to 31, one per category. The instructions say “Complete Parts I, II, and III of each Form 1116.” How Part IV combines them is on the lines 25 to 32 page.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit (Individual, Estate, or Trust), 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. The form’s own header says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-NR, 1041, or 990-T.” Check the tax year printed on the form you are filling in and use the line numbers on that year’s form, because a different year’s form can number or word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Putting two kinds of income on one form. The form says “Check only one box on each Form 1116.”
- Treating the Section 901(j) box like an ordinary category. The instructions say “Because no credit is allowed for taxes paid to sanctioned countries, you would generally complete Form 1116 for this category only through line 17.”
- Stopping at three countries when you have more. The instructions say “If you paid taxes to more than three countries or territories, attach additional sheets following the format of Parts I and II.”
Related: Form 1116, 1099-DIV box 7 foreign tax, Schedule 3 line 1, and 1099-INT boxes 4 to 7.
Sources
- Instructions for Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit (Individual, Estate, or Trust) (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1116.pdf
- Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit (Individual, Estate, or Trust) (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1116.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.