{"id":254,"date":"2022-10-26T15:48:41","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T15:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/expat-tax-preparation\/resource-center\/?p=254"},"modified":"2023-01-10T12:34:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T16:34:38","slug":"coronavirus-foreign-earned-income-exclusion-2020-qualification-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/expat-tax-preparation\/resource-center\/tax-law-and-policy\/coronavirus-foreign-earned-income-exclusion-2020-qualification-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus & Foreign Earned Income Exclusion 2020 qualification changes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Coronavirus has turned our world upside-down, launching us all into uncharted territory. While everyone has been affected by the pandemic, it\u2019s created unique challenges for U.S. expats. Take, for example, eligibility for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

File on my own<\/a><\/div>
File with an advisor<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Foreign Earned Income Exclusion eligibility in normal times<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you wanted to claim the 2020\u00a0Foreign Earned Income Exclusion<\/a>\u00a0(FEIE) in normal times, you\u2019d have to have a permanent home overseas and pass either the\u00a0Bona Fide Residency Test<\/a>\u00a0or the\u00a0Physical Presence Test<\/a>\u2014both of which have a requirement that you spend a certain number of days in your resident country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To qualify for the Bona Fide Residency Test, you\u2019d have to have a proven tax home in a foreign country and have lived there for an uninterrupted 12-month period including an entire tax year. For the Physical Presence Test, you\u2019d have to be in that foreign country for 330 full days during a consecutive 12-month period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel bans, quarantines, and closed borders caused many expats to postpone a planned move, become stranded in their existing country, or have to move back to the U.S. unexpectedly. As a result of this disrupted time, many would normally fail to qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion on their 2020 taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changes to eligibility for the 2020 FEIE and foreign housing cost due to COVID-19<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To help out these U.S. expats, the IRS provided relief for U.S. expats wanting to qualify for the 2020 Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. This 2020 FEIE waiver waives the time abroad thresholds for the FEIE and foreign housing exclusion if the taxpayer fled their resident country due to Coronavirus within a specific time frame.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You qualify for the FEIE COVID-19 relief if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n