What Foreign Tax Credit can I carry forward, and how?

use on my regular 1116 and $1496 on my AMT 1116.

numbers go on the regular and AMT 1116s respectively.

AMT 1116 because I wasn't in AMT.

regular 1116, but what goes on the AMT 1116.

copies of the 2009 and 2011 1116 forms? Anything else to do?

The information you provide is nowhere near what is required to complete Form 1116 or answer questions. Unused foreign taxes paid because of the limit can only be carried forward to a year in which you have an excess limit. Then the earliest year of unused foreign taxes paid is applied to that year's excess. If it is used up then the next year of unused foreign taxes paid can be carried forward to use up any excess limit. If there is still unused taxes paid, they can be carried forward (using the earliest year of carry forwards) to the next year in which you have an excess limit. If there is no excess limit in a year, you continue to carry forward all of the prior years of carried forwards until you get to a year in which you have an excess limit. If you never have an excess limit, then the amount being carried forward will eventually expire (you only have 10 years for carrying forward each year's unused foreign taxes paid).

Before anyone could figure out what is going on, one would need to see a year by year breakdown of the limit for each year, the foreign taxes paid for that year and the unused amount or excess limit for that year. And if you have separate income categories, then you have to break out the aforementioned by category. You do this for regular tax and you do this for AMT. Then, hopefully, if there was a year that had an excess limit, you properly applied any carryforward to that year in order to properly compute what was left for the next year that had an excess limit, always keeping regular tax data and AMT data.

If none of the above makes sense or is confusing, then you need some professional foreign tax help.

Personally, I don't do these any more other than someone who has just one category of income and an excess limit and no AMT. Any time someone asks me about completing Form 1116 outside that scope, I recommend that they see a professional versed in foreign taxes paid and the credit.

I have an excess limit in 2012. I have unused foreign taxes in 2009 and 2011.

I had an excess limit in 2010 and used it to carry forward unused foreign taxes from 2008.

I understand; that is what I am doing.

My primary question is how I carry forward the 2009 unused taxes to 2012, when I had no AMT 1116 in 2009, but do in 2012. Do I just enter the amount from the regular 2009 1116 on both the regular 2012 1116 and the AMT 2012 1116? That would seem to be the only way to do it. If I am required to enter the 2009 tax only on the regular 1116, then I will never get to carry if forward because I will probably never be out of AMT again.

I had no AMT 1116 in 2009, but do in 2012. Do I just enter the amount from the regular 2009 1116 on both the regular 2012 1116 and the AMT 2012 1116? That would seem to be the only way to do it.

never get to carry if forward because I will probably never be out of AMT again.

I believe that the way it works is that the two are never mixed. Your regular tax 1116 will contain your regular tax foreign taxes paid carry forward. Your AMT 1116 will contain your AMT carry forward. In any given year, you may use up one or the other or none. I think you could logically deduce that if the annual numbers fell right, you could conceivably generate more foreign tax credit than you had foreign taxes paid as you jump from AMT to regular to AMT year by year. I believe that it is Form 8801 that prevents this from happening. The 8801 is where you compute your current year nonrefundable credit for AMT you incurred in prior years and it is where the credit carryforward is computed.

Now.... that is all I know on this subject.