do i qualify for a foreign tax credit 
not all taxes paid to a foreign government can be claimed as a credit against the u s federal income tax for the foreign tax to qualify for the credit there is a limit on the amount of credit you can claim which you calculate on form 1116 you can claim the smaller of the foreign tax you paid or your calculated limit unless you qualify for one of these exemptions if you qualify for an exemption claim the tax credit directly on form 1040 6if you claim the foreign earned income exclusion and or the foreign housing exclusion you can t take a foreign tax credit for taxes on the income you excluded or could have excluded if you do the irs could revoke one or both of your choices 7refundable vs non refundable tax creditstax credits can be either refundable or non refundable a refundable tax credit is a refund if the tax credit is more than your tax bill if you apply a 3 400 tax credit to a 3 000 tax bill you will receive a 400 refund a non refundable tax credit won t provide a refund because it only reduces the tax owed to zero if the 3 400 tax credit was non refundable you would owe nothing to the government however you would also forfeit the 400 that remained after the credit was applied 8 most tax credits including the foreign tax credit are non refundable 