How does the 330-day physical presence test work?

To claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion via the physical presence test, you must be physically present in a foreign country for at least 330 full days during any 12-month period you choose. The days need not be consecutive, and picking the best 12-month window is allowed and often decisive. Form 2555 asks for the record.

What breaks the 330-day count?

US days. The IRS standard counts full midnight-to-midnight days in a foreign country, and time in the US or over international waters does not count. A short US trip can cost more days than the calendar suggests, which is why a contemporaneous record beats reconstruction.

US EXPATS · FEIE

330 foreign days buys the exclusion. Beacon counts them for you.

Q: Is there an app that tracks FEIE days automatically?

Yes. SpyglassBeacon attributes each day to the country you were in from your phone's location and shows a foreign-presence card counting toward 330 over the trailing 12 months, with the day-by-day timestamped ledger behind it. Location history stays on the device.

The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion can shelter over $120,000 of earned income, and for most expats it rests on one number: at least 330 full days in foreign countries within a 12-month period. Miss by a few days and the exclusion is gone. SpyglassBeacon counts your foreign days automatically and shows exactly how many you still need.

Why expats fail the test by accident

The test is not "live abroad for a year." It is 330 full days, counted midnight to midnight, inside a 12-month window you choose. US trips subtract fast: the flight days on both ends of a two-week visit home can turn 14 calendar days into 16 lost days. People who "obviously qualify" discover at filing time that they are at 327, and the reconstruction from passport stamps and old boarding passes rarely holds together.

What the app does

A foreign-presence card. Days counted toward 330 across the trailing 12 months, appearing automatically once your life abroad shows in the data.
A running "days still needed" number, so a planned US trip's cost is visible before you book it.
The Form 2555 record. The day-by-day, timestamped ledger and PDF export are the contemporaneous evidence the form's travel schedule asks for.
Your other clocks too. Many expats also juggle a Schengen 90/180 count or a state they left that still wants them: same ledger, all of it.

An honest note on the window

The IRS lets you pick any 12-month period, and the optimal window is a real optimization at filing time. Beacon's card counts the trailing 12 months ending today, a conservative floor: if the trailing window already shows 330, some window certainly does. The IRS standard also counts only full midnight-to-midnight foreign days and excludes international waters; Beacon's any-part-of-a-day attribution can differ on travel days, which is exactly what the day-by-day export lets your preparer adjust. Run scenarios by hand with the free Physical Presence Test calculator.

Frequently asked questions

How does the 330-day test work?

At least 330 full foreign days inside any 12-month period you choose. Not necessarily consecutive, and the window choice is yours, which can rescue a borderline year.

Is there an app that tracks FEIE days automatically?

Yes, this one: automatic country attribution, a 330-day progress card, and the timestamped ledger Form 2555's travel schedule rests on.

What breaks the count?

US days, including travel days that touch the US. The margin for error is 35 days a year; frequent flyers burn it faster than they think.

Not tax advice. The FEIE also requires a foreign tax home, and the bona fide residence test is a separate route. Confirm your position with a qualified preparer.

Source: IRS, physical presence test.

Protect the exclusion

Beacon counts your foreign days toward 330 automatically and keeps the record Form 2555 asks for.

Get the app