幾萬刀 foreign tax credit,根本到不了那個 limit
Limit on the Credit
Your foreign tax credit cannot be more than your total U.S. tax liability multiplied by a fraction. The numerator of the fraction is your taxable income from sources outside the United States. The denominator is your total taxable income from U.S. and foreign sources.
Roughly:
Foreign Tax Credit Limit = Tottal Tax Liability * (Foreign Income / Total Income)
Let F = Foreign Income
Let T1 = US tax rate on F
Let D = Domestic Income
Let T2 = US tax rate on D
Foreign Tax Credit Limit = (F * T1 + D * T2) * F / (F + D) >= (F + D) * min(T1, T2) * F / (F + D)
So, Foreign Tax Credit Limit >= F * min(T1, T2)
Let Tf be the foreign tax on F then
Foreign Tax Credit = F * Tf
to me, Tf is (capital gain tax for selling house in China) about 6%, while T1 > 20% (including Medicare surcharge) and T2 > 30% (effective tax rate, not marginal tax rate, not sure how large is T2 but definitely above 30%)
When you sell house in Shanghai and you've hold the house for more than 5 year, you have the choice to pay tax 5% on total price, or 20% on the gain. It is benificial to take 5% on total price. My recollection could be off but that is the ballpark number. I just take tax rate 6% on the gain as a ballpark number
Foreign Tax Credit ~= F * 6% 遠小於 F * 20% < Foreign Tax Credit Limit
If you are doing business or receive salary in China then that would be a different story, the Tf could be very high. If Tf > max(T1, T2) you will definitely be hit by the limit.
If your foregin income is only from selling a house in China, it is unlikely you would be hit by this limit, if you have just a little bit of positive US source of income.