Is there a reason why turbotax is automatically reducing my other deductions (such as foreign taxes paid) to 0 when I input my unused tuition credits?

[yoshiw101]

I have unused tuition credits from previous years when I was a student. I recently started a job overseas in a country that has a tax treaty with Canada. I pay income tax in this country and should be getting credit for it in in my income. This credit does appear normally in my deductions summary under foreign tax credits, however as soon as I input my unused tuition credits, this credit amount (from my foreign taxes) goes to 0. Shouldn't the unused tuition credits be applied to my income amount after my foreign tax credits have been applied?

[TurboTaxSusan]

There is a certain order that credits & deductions are used (which you can see in Schedule 1). So if you have added something that gives you a credit or deduction that comes before the foreign tax credit, it may reduce your tax payable enough that the foreign tax credit is no longer needed. Tuition must be used before foreign tax credit.