Form 1099-DIV Box 7: Foreign Tax Paid

If you own a fund or stock that pays dividends from another country, the payer may report foreign tax on Form 1099-DIV, Box 7. That tax may be eligible for a foreign tax credit. The box tells you the amount. It does not decide whether you can take the credit.

This guide is general information. It is not advice about your own return. Read the instructions for the forms you file, or ask a tax professional about your case.

What Box 7 shows

Box 7 shows the foreign tax paid on your dividends and other distributions. The amount is in U.S. dollars. A mutual fund or other fund may report the amount for you. The fund reports only the amount it chooses to pass through to you.

What Box 8 shows

Box 8 shows the name of the foreign country or U.S. possession that the tax was paid to. Read it with Box 7. Box 8 names the country for the tax shown in Box 7. Regulated investment companies (RICs) do not complete Box 8 under the form's special rules. Check the statement you get.

How the credit is claimed

You claim the foreign tax credit on your return. The IRS 2025 Form 1116 instructions show the credit line on Schedule 3 (Form 1040), Part I, line 1. Form 1116 is the form used to figure the credit, unless an exception below applies.

The small-amount exception

You can claim the credit without filing Form 1116 only if all of these are true:

All of your foreign income is passive income. Most dividends and interest count as passive income.
All of that income, and the foreign tax on it, was reported to you on a qualified payee statement. Form 1099-DIV is one of these.
Your total creditable foreign taxes are not more than $300, or $600 if you file a joint return.

If these rules apply, the IRS says you enter the credit on Schedule 3 (Form 1040), Part I, line 1. The amount is the smaller of your total foreign tax or your regular tax. Foreign taxes claimed under this election cannot be carried to or from another year. The instructions also say you still must follow the general rules for whether a tax is creditable.

Check your statement

Compare Box 7 with the foreign tax on your broker or fund statements. Check Box 8 for the country name. If the amount is blank, the fund may not have had foreign tax to report for you. Box 7 is not the credit itself. Only the part you can claim, under the rules above, goes on your return.

When you usually need Form 1116

The exception is narrow. You generally need Form 1116 when your foreign income is not all passive, when a qualified payee statement is missing, or when your foreign taxes are more than $300, or more than $600 on a joint return. In those cases, Form 1116 does the detailed figuring. Read the Form 1116 instructions before you file it.

Keep your records

Keep each fund or broker statement that shows foreign tax. If you hold several foreign funds, add up the amounts in each Box 7 and keep the list with your return. A simple list can help if the IRS asks about the credit later.

Next steps

Keep the Form 1099-DIV with your tax records. Check the exception rules before you decide whether to file Form 1116. For a broader guide to dividend forms, read our basic guide to Form 1099-INT and Form 1099-DIV. For how the credit is figured in general, read our guide to the foreign tax credit and Form 1116.

Sources: Sources: IRS, Form 1099-DIV (Rev. January 2024) and its Instructions for Recipient (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1099div.pdf); IRS, Instructions for Form 1116 (2025) (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1116.pdf), Election To Claim the Foreign Tax Credit Without Filing Form 1116 This is general information, not advice about your specific return.

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