How the calculator counts
- Add your days in the US. Every other day is a day abroad. Days you fly in or out count as US days, since a full day abroad runs midnight to midnight. Puerto Rico, Guam and the other US territories count as the US too. A stopover in the US of under 24 hours between two foreign countries doesn't count, so leave it out.
- See how many US days you have left. A 12-month period has room for 35 days that aren't full days abroad, or 36 with 29 February. Your trips, planned ones included, use them up.
- The best 12 months are found for you. It tries every 12-month period that overlaps your tax year and picks the one with 330 days abroad and the most days in the year. Or pick your own dates, and it shows the 12 months between them with the most days abroad.
- The exclusion is prorated. The maximum exclusion is scaled to the days of your tax year inside that period.
- Some parts aren't checked. Your foreign tax home, time over international waters, the bona fide residence test and the waiver for leaving a country under adverse conditions are up to you.
The physical presence test
330 full days in a foreign country or countries in any 12 consecutive months lets a US taxpayer exclude foreign earned income up to an annual cap. You also need a foreign tax home, and the exclusion covers earned income only — pensions, dividends and gains stay taxable.
Days in the US and tax residency
US citizens are taxed as residents wherever they live. If you're not a citizen or green card holder, your US days decide residency under the Substantial Presence Test: 31 days this year and 183 weighted days across three years.
Check them with the US Substantial Presence Test Calculator →