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Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
2023
Instructions for Form 2555
Foreign Earned Income
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless Note. Income from working abroad as an employee of the U.S.
otherwise noted. Government does not qualify for either of the exclusions or the
housing deduction. Don't file Form 2555.
Future Developments Tax home test. To meet this test, your tax home must be in a
For the latest information about developments related to Form foreign country, or countries (see Foreign country, earlier),
2555 and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they throughout your period of bona fide residence or physical
were published, go to IRS.gov/Form2555. presence, whichever applies. For this purpose, your period of
physical presence is the 330 full days during which you were
What's New present in a foreign country, or countries, not the 12 consecutive
Exclusion amount. For 2023, the maximum exclusion amount months during which those days occurred.
has increased to $120,000.
Note. If you did not live 330 full days in a foreign country, or
Reminder countries, during a 12-month period, you are not entitled to claim
the foreign earned income exclusion. The 330 qualifying days do
Tax home for individuals serving in a combat zone. Certain not have to be consecutive.
individuals serving in a combat zone in support of the U.S. Your tax home is your regular or principal place of business,
Armed Forces may nonetheless establish a tax home in the employment, or post of duty, regardless of where you maintain
foreign country of the combat zone. For more information, see your family residence. If you don't have a regular or principal
Tax home test under Who Qualifies, later. place of business because of the nature of your trade or
business, your tax home is your regular place of abode (the
General Instructions place where you regularly live).
You aren't considered to have a tax home in a foreign country
Don't include on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 25a or 25b for any period during which your abode is in the United States,
! (federal income tax withheld from Form(s) W-2 or 1099, unless you are serving in support of the U.S. Armed Forces in an
CAUTION respectively), any taxes an employer withheld from your
area designated as a combat zone. See Service in a combat
pay that were paid to the foreign country's tax authority instead zone, later. Otherwise, if your abode is in the United States, you
of the U.S. Treasury. will not meet the tax home test and cannot claim the foreign
earned income exclusion.
Purpose of Form The location of your abode is based on where you maintain
If you qualify, you can use Form 2555 to figure your foreign your family, economic, and personal ties. Your abode is not
earned income exclusion and your housing exclusion or necessarily in the United States merely because you maintain a
deduction. You cannot exclude or deduct more than the amount dwelling in the United States, whether or not your spouse and
of your foreign earned income for the year. dependents use the dwelling. Your abode is not necessarily in
the United States while you are temporarily in the United States.
General Information However, these factors can contribute to your having an abode in
If you are a U.S. citizen or a resident alien living in a foreign the United States.
country, you are subject to the same U.S. income tax laws that Example. You are employed on an offshore oil rig in the
apply to U.S. citizens and resident aliens living in the United territorial waters of a foreign country and work a 28-day on/
States. 28-day off schedule. You return to your family residence in the
Note. Specific rules apply to determine if you are a resident or United States during your off periods. You are considered to
nonresident alien of the United States. See Pub. 519. have an abode in the United States and don't meet the tax home
test. You can't claim either of the exclusions or the housing
Foreign country. A foreign country is any territory under the deduction.
sovereignty of a government other than that of the United States. Service in a combat zone. Citizens or residents of the
The term “foreign country” includes the country's territorial United States serving in an area designated by the President of
waters and airspace, but not international waters and the the United States by Executive order as a combat zone for
airspace above them. It also includes the seabed and subsoil of purposes of section 112 in support of the U.S. Armed Forces can
those submarine areas adjacent to the country's territorial waters qualify as having a tax home in a foreign country, even if they
over which it has exclusive rights under international law to have an abode within the United States. For a list of
explore and exploit the natural resources. IRS-recognized combat zones, go to IRS.gov/Newsroom/
The term “foreign country” doesn't include U.S. territories. It Combat-Zones.
doesn't include the Antarctic region.
Travel to Cuba
Who Qualifies Generally, if you were in Cuba in violation of U.S. travel
You qualify to exclude your foreign earned income from gross restrictions, the following rules apply.
income if both of the following apply. • Any time spent in Cuba can't be counted in determining if you
• You meet the tax home test (discussed later). qualify under the bona fide residence or physical presence test.
• You meet either the bona fide residence test or the physical • Any income earned in Cuba isn't considered foreign earned
presence test (discussed later). income.
Oct 16, 2023 Cat. No. 11901A
