The Physical Presence Test is the most common way to qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), which lets you exclude up to $132,900 from US taxes (2026). The rule is deceptively simple: be physically present in a foreign country for at least 330 full days during any 12-month period. But the devil is in the details. Travel days usually don't count. US layovers disqualify entire days. Being one day short means losing the entire exclusion—costing you about $20,630 in US income tax on $132,900 of wages (single filer, 2026). This calculator helps you count days correctly, understand edge cases, and build in buffer days so you never fail the test by mistake.
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A full day is a period of 24 consecutive hours, beginning and ending at midnight, spent in one or more foreign countries. If you are in the US at any point during the day, that day does not count. When you leave the US or return to it, time on or over international waters does not count as time in a foreign country, and travel between foreign countries loses full days only if the part not within a foreign country takes 24 hours or more.
It depends. Travel between foreign countries that takes under 24 hours does not cost you full days. Trips to or from the US do: any day you spend part of in the US does not count, and time on or over international waters when you leave or return to the US does not count. Aim for 340-350 days abroad, not exactly 330.
Physical presence in the US for part of a day disqualifies that day, with one exception: if you are in transit between two points outside the US and are physically present in the US for less than 24 hours, you are not treated as present in the US. If you leave the airport and stay in the US, that day does not count. It is still safest to avoid US stopovers during your qualifying period.
Yes, you can spend up to 35 days in the US during your 12-month period (365 - 330 = 35). However, you must also account for travel days lost to the midnight rule. Realistically, if you visit the US for 5 days, you lose 5 US days + 2 travel days = 7 days total. Plan conservatively.
You fail the test completely. The Physical Presence Test is all-or-nothing: 330 days = $132,900 exclusion; 329 days = $0 exclusion. Being one day short means you owe full US tax on your foreign income, which can cost you about $20,630 in US income tax (on $132,900 of wages, single filer, 2026). This is why buffer days are critical.
No. You can choose any consecutive 12-month period. For example, if you moved abroad on July 15, 2025, you can use the period July 15, 2025 - July 14, 2026. As long as you have 330 qualifying days in that window, you pass the test. You can even use multiple overlapping periods to maximize your exclusion across tax years.
Aim for 340-350 days abroad, not 330. This gives you a 10-20 day buffer to protect against: emergency US trips, travel day losses (flights at midnight), miscounts, or unexpected events. The buffer is cheap insurance against losing a tax benefit worth about $20,630 on $132,900 of wages (single filer, 2026).
No. You can travel to as many foreign countries as you want. The 330 days can be spread across multiple countries. What matters is that you are in foreign countries (not the US, not international waters/airspace) for at least 330 full days during your 12-month period.
The IRS can request documentation proving you were abroad for 330+ days. Acceptable proof includes: passport stamps, flight records, hotel/Airbnb bookings, credit card statements showing foreign transactions, bank ATM withdrawals, geolocation data (Google Maps Timeline), employer work logs, lease agreements, and dated photos with GPS metadata. Keep meticulous records and save all travel documents.
Yes. Google Maps Timeline and Apple Location Services provide strong evidence of your physical presence. If you enable location tracking, you can export a detailed day-by-day log showing you were in foreign countries. This is especially useful for periods without passport stamps (e.g., traveling within the Schengen zone where there are no border controls).
The Bona Fide Residence Test is an alternative to the Physical Presence Test. If you are a bona fide resident of a foreign country for an entire tax year (Jan 1 - Dec 31), you can qualify for FEIE without meeting the 330-day requirement. However, bona fide residence is harder to prove—you must show you established genuine residence with intent to live there indefinitely, not just temporarily. Most digital nomads cannot meet this test and must rely on the 330-day test.
If an emergency forces you back to the US and you drop below 330 days, you fail the test and lose the entire FEIE for that year. There is no exception for emergencies or illness; the IRS can waive the minimum time requirement only if you must leave a foreign country because of war, civil unrest, or similar adverse conditions there (the IRS publishes a list of countries each year). This is exactly why you should aim for 340-350 days, not 330. The 10-20 day buffer protects you against the unexpected.
An overnight flight between two foreign countries that takes under 24 hours loses no full days. Leaving the US is different: a full day is 24 consecutive hours from midnight to midnight spent abroad, so if you depart the US at 10 PM on May 1 and land in London on May 2 at 10 AM, neither day counts: on May 1 you were in the US and then over the Atlantic, and on May 2 you were not in a foreign country at the start of the day. May 3 is your first full day (the IRS example has a June 10 departure, a June 11 arrival and June 12 as the first full day).
Yes. For example, you can use the Physical Presence Test for part of the year and Bona Fide Residence for another part. However, most people find it simpler to use one test consistently. The Physical Presence Test is more objective and easier to prove (just count days), while Bona Fide Residence is subjective and requires demonstrating intent to live abroad permanently.
US territories count as the United States for the Physical Presence Test. Days spent in Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or Northern Mariana Islands do NOT count toward your 330 foreign days. Only time in actual foreign countries counts.
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Last Updated: October 2026