Today we want to talk about Bona Fide Residence Test, which one shall pass to qualify for FEIE. Are you an American abroad and you earn more than $10,000 USD a year? Then you are required to file U.S. federal tax return. If this is news to you, then you probably should know more about filing requirements for U.S. persons abroad.
However, if you are a U.S. expat who is aware of their tax obligations, then you probably heard about FEIE. It stands for Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. It allows you to exclude up to $104,100 for 2018 tax year from your taxable income. But in order to qualify for such exclusion, you need to meet requirements. One of them is to pass either the Bona Fide Residence Test or Physical Presence Test.
In order to help you understand more about U.S. international taxation, we prepare a weekly tax infographic. It’s an easy way to remember all that info needed! Today we gathered a few facts about Bona Fide residence test and also prepared you a free tool, which will help you to understand how one can pass the test or not.
To use the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, you need to pass either the Physical Presence or Bona Fide Residence Tests. The Physical Presence test requires you to be out of the United States for 330 days minimum in a period of 12 consecutive months. However, the 330 qualifying days do not need to be back-to-back. Being present in a foreign country doesn’t mean that you have to be there for employment purposes. You can be on holiday or for other private reasons.
Do you still have questions? Do not hesitate to contact us to receive a free consultation. Our U.S. international tax professionals will help to determine your status and show you legal ways to save money. We also offer free 20 min call, when you can ask anything you would like to know about your tax case!
