also called SPT
The United States formula that counts days present over a multi-year window to decide if a non-citizen is treated as a US tax resident.
The US formula that adds up your days in the country across a multi-year window, weighting the earlier years less, to decide whether a non-citizen counts as a US tax resident. Spend enough time there and you can become a US taxpayer with no green card at all. People confuse it with a plain 183-day rule, but this test spans several years rather than counting days in a single one.
A non-American spends long stretches in the US year after year, thinking each visit resets and nothing adds up. The multi-year formula tips them into US tax residency, and suddenly their worldwide income is exposed to US tax, purely from the days stacking up across seasons.
A non-American spending significant time in the US can become a US tax resident without a green card, exposing worldwide income to US tax.
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 · Physical Presence Test · Time-in-country tracking
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