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Screen 2555 - Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (1040)
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Form 2555 - General Information
Employer's name
Employer's name field is mandatory for completing Form 2555. You can enter more than 1 employer in the
Employer’s name
field, and you can enter multiple addresses in the address statements. Report multiple employers for a taxpayer on 1 Form 2555.T, S
For married filing joint returns, 2 sets of input screens are available for the maximum number of forms produced. You can select
T
or S
for either unit but per IRS specifications, you can't use the same selection for both.State
Enter the state postal code for items you entered in the 2555 or 2555-2 screen. Other screens that include Form 2555 information use this screen’s postal code. For more information, review the input screen help for the appropriate state application by using F1 from within a state input screen.
Employer’s address: US address
You can enter more than 1 employer in the
Employer’s name
field, and you can enter multiple addresses in the address statements. Report multiple employers for a taxpayer on 1 Form 2555 for that taxpayer.Employer’s address: Foreign address
In the statement, use only 1 line per employer. A required statement generates with detailed foreign address information. The Foreign Street Address column contains a linked custom fieldview you can use to automatically enter data in related fields. This is also available in the
Foreign Employer: Foreign street address
field in the FEC screen.Other employer type
If the employer type is "other," enter a description in the
Other employer type
field. The employer information reports in Part I of the form.Last year Form 2555 filed
If Form 2555 was previously filed to claim either the foreign earned income or housing exclusion, enter the last year the form was filed. This information is reported in Form 2555, Part I. If
2023
appears in the 2024
screen, the date updates automatically to 2024
during the 2025
proforma process. If the date entered isn't 2023
, the date proformas to this field as entered.Type of exclusion and tax year revocation was effective
If any Form 2555 exclusions previously taken were revoked, enter the tax year that the revocation was effective (in the statement) and select the appropriate exclusion type code for the revocation.
Second foreign household
If the taxpayer had a separate foreign residence for their family due to adverse living conditions in the tax home, enter the city, country, and number of days during the tax year that the home was maintained. This data reports on Form 2555, line 8b, and the
Yes
checkbox is marked on line 8a. If you leave the statement blank, the No
checkbox is marked.Not claiming foreign earned income exclusion
Enter
X
if the taxpayer is choosing only the housing exclusion and/or deduction. The foreign earned income exclusion always calculates unless this field is marked. Note that if you enter X
in this field, only Form 2555, Page 3, Part VII, is suppressed; the rest of Form 2555 isn't suppressed.Waiver of time requirements explanation
If the taxpayer can claim an exclusion or deduction because of the waiver of time requirements, enter an explanation for the waiver. "Claiming Waiver" prints across the top of Form 2555, Page 1. If claiming a waiver, enter the dates of residency in either Part II, Bona Fide Residence Test, or Part III, Physical Presence Test, of the 2555 screen.
Foreign Earned Income Allocation Information
Use this section to enter the number of days worked during the tax year. This information is used with the income’s allocation code to allocate income and expenses between U.S. and foreign earned income. You can enter income items and allocation codes in the 1099M, 2555-2, C, F, FEC, K1, and W2 screens.
US business days and travel information
Enter all travel information (U.S. or foreign). Information in this field is used to:
- calculate the amount of income earned in the U.S. on business during either qualifying test period.
- complete lines 14(a)-(d) if qualifying under the bona fide residence test.
- calculate the 12-month period of physical presence reported on line 16 and complete lines 18 (a)-(f), if qualifying under the physical presence test.
Enter travel information in chronological order to calculate the 12-month physical presence period on line 16. Only one qualifying period calculates. Enter travel information that is most closely related to the current tax year and also contains at least 330 days physically present in a foreign country or countries. Form 2555 is not completed if the application calculates fewer than 330 physical presence days.
When you enter both bona fide residence information and physical presence information, the test with the greater number of qualifying days in the taxable year is used on the Form 2555. To force a specific test, refer to that test's section of Screen 2555.
Refer to this list of fields available in the statement for US business days and travel information.
- Type Code:Code 2 items (travel to restricted country) are not treated as days present in a foreign country or countries when the physical presence period reported on Form 2555 line 16 is calculated.
- Name of Country:"United States" is automatically entered in the Name of Country column when code 1 is selected.
- Date Arrived, Date Left:Enter in chronological order the dates the taxpayer arrived in and departed from a foreign country, a restricted country, or the U.S. Each date entered must be a full day of physical presence for foreign travel. A full day means the 24-hour period that starts at midnight, (i.e., enter the following day's date if the day of arrival does not qualify as a full day). The number of days in the U.S. and days spent in a restricted country are not included when calculating the physical presence 12-month period.
- US Bus Days:Enter the number of days worked in the U.S. during the trip. The total number of U.S. business days in Screen 2555 transfers to the Form 2555 Foreign Earned Income Allocation Worksheet as U.S. days worked during foreign assignment. The number of total U.S. business days may be used to allocate income and expense items depending upon the assigned allocation code.
- US Inc (Force):Use this field to override (force) the calculated U.S. earned income for the dates entered. U.S. income during the assignment is allocated to each code 1 item based on the trip's U.S. business days to total U.S. business days. The total U.S. income earned during the assignment is reported on the Form 2555 Foreign Earned Income Allocation Worksheet. Amounts entered in this field are reported on Form 2555 line 14, if qualifying under the bona fide residence test, or line 18 if the physical presence test is met.noteEnter an amount in this field only if the item's code is 1 or blank.
- Full Days:The number of full days present in a foreign country (for code 3, Travel to foreign country) is calculated and displayed in this field. The number of days in the foreign country is calculated from travel dates you enter in the Date Arrived and Date Left columns. The number of full days is reported on Form 2555 line 18 if the taxpayer qualifies under the physical presence test.
- Days (Force):Use this field to override (force) the calculation of full days present in a foreign country displayed in the previous column. You will also need to force the physical presence dates in Part III of this screen.noteEnter information in this field only if the taxpayer qualifies under the physical presence test.
Foreign days worked before & after foreign assignment
This amount transfers to the Form 2555 Foreign Earned Income Allocation Worksheet. The Form 1116 foreign tax credit calculation uses the income and expenses allocated to foreign days before or after foreign assignment.
Total days worked before & after foreign assignment
This amount transfers to the Form 2555 Foreign Earned Income Allocation Worksheet. The Form 1116 foreign tax credit calculation uses the income and expenses allocated to foreign days before or after foreign assignment.
Total number of days worked (defaults to 240)
This amount transfers to the Form 2555 Foreign Earned Income Allocation Worksheet to allocate income and expense items according to the assigned allocation code.
Part II - Bona Fide Residence Test
To qualify under this test, the taxpayer must be a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for at least a complete, uninterrupted tax year (Jan 1 - Dec 31). Form 2555, Part II, Bona Fide Residence Test, doesn't complete if the dates you enter don't include a complete tax year.
Force bona fide residence test
Use this field to override (force) the calculated test. When you enter both bona fide residence information and physical presence information, Form 2555 uses the test with the greater number of qualifying days in the taxable year.
Date bona fide residence began
The calculation for the number of qualifying days within the current tax year uses these dates. If you leave the
Date bona fide residence ended
field blank, CONTINUE
prints on the form and the application uses the last day of the tax year in calculations.Date bona fide residence ended
The calculation for the number of qualifying days within the current tax year uses these dates. If you leave this field blank,
CONTINUE
prints on the form and the application uses the last day of the tax year in calculations.Submitted nonresident statement...
Enter
X
if the taxpayer submitted a statement of nonresidence to the authorities of the foreign country where the taxpayer earned income, and the foreign authorities haven't made an adverse nonresident status determination or have confirmed that the taxpayer isn't subject to their income tax laws.Physical presence test from date (Force)
If this field contains information and the
Physical presence test through date (Force)
field is blank, the calculation for the number of qualifying days within the tax year uses the last day of the tax year. Continue
isn't a valid entry.Physical presence test through date (Force)
If the
Physical presence test from date (Force)
field contains information and you leave the Physical presence test through date (Force)
field blank, the calculation for the number of qualifying days within the tax year uses the last day of the tax year. Continue
isn't a valid entry.