also called PPT · 330-day test
A US test that qualifies you for the foreign earned income exclusion if you are outside the US for enough full days in a rolling twelve-month period.
A US test that qualifies you for the foreign earned income exclusion if you spend enough full days outside the country over a rolling twelve-month period. It is pure day-counting, so too many US days in the window knocks you out. The bona fide residence test is the alternative that looks at whether you are genuinely settled abroad rather than tallying days, which suits people with a fixed base better.
An American nomad keeps a careful count of every day spent in the US, because a handful of extra trips home for family could push them over the limit in their twelve-month window. Cross it, and they lose the exclusion for that period, so a wedding and a funeral back home suddenly become tax decisions.
Too many US days in the window disqualifies the exclusion, so nomads track days carefully.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These are the tests a single country uses to decide it can tax you, mostly by counting days.
The 183-day rule is the rough guideline that more than half a year makes you resident, and the 183-day myth is the mistaken belief that staying under it always keeps you safe.
The US substantial presence test, the UK Statutory Residence Test, and the US Physical Presence and Bona Fide Residence tests are formal versions, tax residency by day count vs ties names the underlying choice, time-in-country tracking is keeping the precise record, and residence is simply where you actually live.
183-day rule · Bona Fide Residence Test · Substantial presence test · Time-in-country tracking
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