Browse 3 Gruv blog articles tagged FEIE Qualification. Coverage includes Tax Residency & Compliance. Practical guides, examples, and checklists for cross-border payments, tax, compliance, invoicing, and global operations.
Set your tax-home classification before you touch FEIE or housing math. That call sets the boundary for everything that follows, because foreign days count only for periods when your work-base position is foreign. A perfect travel calendar cannot rescue a weak classification.
Start with one objective: qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion through the Physical Presence Test using facts you can prove, not assumptions you hope survive review. This is not a loophole hunt, and it is not just a math exercise. The goal is a filing position that is clear, repeatable, and defensible.
If your facts support a full, uninterrupted calendar year abroad, the residence route is often the cleaner way to claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. For calendar-year filers, that means January 1 through December 31. If your year will not support that uninterrupted span, do not try to force it. Plan around the [Physical Presence Test](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion-physical-presence-test) instead: 330 full days abroad within any 12-month period, with a foreign tax home during the period you claim.