Reg. § 1.901-1 Allowance of credit for foreign income taxes.
(a) In general Citizens of the United States, domestic corporations, certain aliens resident in the United States or Puerto Rico, and certain estates and trusts may choose to claim a credit, as provided in section , against the tax imposed by chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) for certain taxes paid or accrued to foreign countries and possessions of the United States, subject to the conditions prescribed in this section.
(1) Citizen of the United States An individual who is a citizen of the United States, whether resident or nonresident, may claim a credit for—
(i) The amount of any foreign income taxes, as defined in , paid or accrued (as the case may be, depending on the individual's method of accounting for such taxes) during the taxable year;
(ii) The individual's share of any such taxes of a partnership of which the individual is a member, or of an estate or trust of which the individual is a beneficiary; and
(iii) In the case of an individual who has made an election under section , the taxes deemed to have been paid under section (see ).
(2) Domestic corporation A domestic corporation may claim a credit for—
(i) The amount of any foreign income taxes, as defined in , paid or accrued (as the case may be, depending on the corporation's method of accounting for such taxes) during the taxable year;
(ii) The corporation's share of any such taxes of a partnership of which the corporation is a member, or of an estate or trust of which the corporation is a beneficiary; and
(iii) The taxes deemed to have been paid under section .
(3) Alien resident of the United States or Puerto Rico Except as provided in a Presidential proclamation described in section , an individual who is a resident alien of the United States (as defined in section ), or an individual who is a bona fide resident of Puerto Rico (as defined in section ) during the entire taxable year, may claim a credit for—
(i) The amount of any foreign income taxes, as defined in , paid or accrued (as the case may be, depending on the individual's method of accounting for such taxes) during the taxable year;
(ii) The individual's share of any such taxes of a partnership of which the individual is a member, or of an estate or trust of which the individual is a beneficiary; and
(iii) In the case of an individual who has made an election under section , the taxes deemed to have been paid under section (see ).
(4) Estates and trusts An estate or trust may claim a credit for—
(i) The amount of any foreign income taxes, as defined in , paid or accrued (as the case may be, depending on the estate or trust's method of accounting for such taxes) during the taxable year to the extent not allocable to and taken into account by its beneficiaries under , , or of this section (see section ); and
(ii) In the case of an estate or trust that has made an election under section , the taxes deemed to have been paid under section (see ).
(b) Limitations Certain Code sections, including sections and (e)(3), 814, 901(e) through (m), 904, 906, 907, 908, 909, 911, 965(g), 999, and 6038, reduce, defer, or otherwise limit the credit against the tax imposed by chapter 1 of the Code for certain amounts of foreign income taxes.
(c) Deduction denied if credit claimed
(1) In general Except as provided in and of this section, if a taxpayer chooses with respect to any taxable year to claim a credit under section to any extent, such choice will apply to all of the foreign income taxes paid or accrued (as the case may be, depending on the taxpayer's method of accounting for such taxes) by the taxpayer in such taxable year, and no deduction from gross income is allowed for any portion of such taxes in any taxable year. See section .
(2) Exception for taxes not subject to section 275 A deduction may be allowed under section for foreign income tax for which a credit is disallowed under any Code section and to which section does not apply. See, for example, sections , , , , , and . For rules on the taxable year in which a deduction for foreign income taxes is allowed under section , see , -2(a)(2), and 1.461-4(g)(6)(iii)(B).
(3) Exception for taxes paid by an accrual basis taxpayer that relate to a prior year in which the taxpayer deducted foreign income taxes If a taxpayer claims a credit for foreign income taxes accrued in a taxable year (including a cash method taxpayer that elects under section to claim a credit in the year the taxes accrue), a deduction may be claimed in that taxable year for additional foreign income taxes that are finally determined and paid as a result of a foreign tax redetermination in that taxable year if the additional foreign income taxes relate to a prior taxable year in which the taxpayer claimed a deduction, rather than a credit, for foreign income taxes paid or accrued (as the case may be, depending on the taxpayer's overall method of accounting) in that prior year.
(4) Example The following example illustrates the application of of this section.
(i) Facts U.S.C. is a domestic corporation that is engaged in a trade or business in Country X through a branch. U.S.C. uses the accrual method of accounting and a calendar year for U.S. and Country X tax purposes. For taxable Years 1 through 3, U.S.C. deducted foreign income taxes accrued in those years. In Years 4 through 6, U.S.C. claimed a credit for foreign income taxes accrued in those years. In Year 6, U.S.C. paid an additional $50x tax to Country X that relates to Year 1 because of the close of a Country X tax audit.
(ii) Analysis The additional $50x Country X tax paid by U.S.C. in Year 6 that relates to Year 1 cannot be claimed by U.S.C. as a deduction on an amended return for Year 1 because the additional tax accrued in Year 6. See section (flush language); and -2(a)(2). In addition, because the additional $50x Country X tax relates to and is considered to accrue in Year 1 for foreign tax credit purposes, U.S.C. cannot claim a credit for the additional $50x Country X tax on its Federal income tax return for Year 6. See . However, pursuant to of this section, U.S.C. can claim a deduction for the additional $50x Country X tax that relates to Year 1 on its Federal income tax return for Year 6, even though it claims a credit for foreign income taxes that accrue in Year 6 and that relate to Year 6.
(d) Period during which election can be made or changed
(1) In general The taxpayer may, for a particular taxable year, elect to claim a credit under section (or claim a deduction in lieu of electing to claim a credit) at any time before the expiration of the period within which a claim for credit or refund of Federal income tax for such taxable year that is attributable to such credit or deduction, as the case may be, may be made (or, if longer, the period prescribed by section if the refund period for that taxable year is extended by an agreement to extend the assessment period under section ). Thus, an election to claim a credit for foreign income taxes paid or accrued (as the case may be, depending on the taxpayer's method of accounting for such taxes) in a particular taxable year can be made within the period prescribed by section for claiming a credit or refund of Federal income tax for that taxable year that is attributable to a credit for the foreign income taxes paid or accrued in that particular taxable year or, if longer, the period prescribed by section with respect to that particular taxable year. A choice to claim a deduction under section , rather than a credit under section , for foreign income taxes paid or accrued in a particular taxable year can be made within the period prescribed by section or , as applicable, for claiming a credit or refund of Federal income tax for that particular taxable year.
(2) Manner in which election is made or changed A taxpayer claims a deduction or a credit for foreign income taxes paid or accrued in a particular taxable year by filing an original or amended return for that taxable year within the relevant period specified in of this section. A claim for a credit shall be accompanied by Form 1116 in the case of an individual, estate or trust, and by Form 1118 in the case of a corporation (and an individual, estate or trust making an election under section ). See and for rules requiring the filing of amended returns for all affected years when a timely change in the taxpayer's election to claim a deduction or credit results in U.S. tax deficiencies.
(e) Joint return In the case of spouses making a joint return, credit for taxes paid or accrued to any foreign country or to any possession of the United States shall be computed upon the basis of the total taxes so paid by or accrued against the spouses.
(f) Taxes against which credit is allowed The credit for foreign income taxes is allowed only against the tax imposed by chapter 1 of the Code. The credit is not allowed against a tax that, under section , is not treated as a tax imposed by such chapter.
(g) Taxpayers to whom credit not allowed Among those to whom the credit for taxes is not allowed are the following:
(1) Except as provided in section , a foreign corporation.
(2) Except as provided in section , a nonresident alien individual who is not described in section (see sections and ).
(3) A nonresident alien individual described in section other than a bona fide resident (as defined in section and the regulations under that section) of Puerto Rico during the entire taxable year (see sections and (4)).
(4) A U.S. citizen or resident alien individual who is a bona fide resident of a section possession (as defined in ), the U.S. Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico, and who excludes certain income from U.S. gross income to the extent of taxes allocable to the income so excluded (see sections , , and ).
(h) Taxpayers denied credit in a particular taxable year Taxpayers who are denied the credit for taxes for particular taxable years are the following:
(1) Except as provided in and of this section, a taxpayer that claims a deduction for foreign income taxes paid or accrued (as the case may be, depending on the taxpayer's method of accounting for such taxes) for that taxable year (see sections and ); and
(2) A regulated investment company which has exercised the election under section .
(i) Dividends from a DISC treated as foreign For purposes of sections through and the regulations thereunder, any amount treated as a dividend from a corporation which is a DISC or former DISC (as defined in section (1) or (3) as the case may be) will be treated as a dividend from a foreign corporation to the extent such dividend is treated under section as income from sources without the United States.
(j) Applicability date of this section applies to taxable years ending after April 9, 2008. This section applies to foreign taxes paid or accrued in taxable years beginning on or after December 28, 2021.
Editorial Note
Editorial Note:
For Federal Register citations affecting , see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding Aids section of the printed volume and at www.govinfo.gov.
[T.D. 6500, 25 FR 11910, Nov. 26, 1960]