Form 2555: How to count qualifying days for Bona fide resident with US vacation time?

You should list 365 days as your qualifying period. As a bona fide resident, your temporary visits to the US don't disrupt your foreign residence status. The key is that you maintained your tax home in Spain and intended to return there after your visit, which it sounds like you did. The days you spent in the US are correctly listed in Part II Question 14, as that's just documenting your travel. But for calculating your qualifying period, you remain a bona fide resident for the full year, even during temporary absences. Form 2555 instructions specifically address this scenario. As long as you've established bona fide residence (which you clearly have after 12+ years), brief trips to the US for family emergencies or vacation don't change your status.

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Just to add another perspective on Form 2555 - I've been living abroad for 15+ years and use the Physical Presence Test instead of Bona Fide Residence. It's more straightforward in some ways because you just need to count actual days (330 out of 365 outside the US). But for Bona Fide Residence like your situation, the standard is different. It's about your permanent home and intentions. Brief trips back to the US for family emergencies absolutely don't disrupt your status. One tip from experience: document everything. Keep boarding passes, entry/exit stamps, and a calendar of your physical location each day. The IRS rarely questions Form 2555 claims, but if they do, having documentation makes it painless.

Quick clarification question - I'm a US citizen working in Japan and visit home for about 3 weeks every Christmas. For Form 2555, do I need to prorate my foreign housing exclusion for those days I'm in the US, or can I claim the full amount?

Great question! As someone who's been helping expats with Form 2555 for years, I can confirm that you should use 365 days as your qualifying period. Since you've been a bona fide resident of Spain since 2012, your 22-day visit to the US for your mom's surgery doesn't disrupt that status. The key factors the IRS looks at for bona fide residence are: 1) Your permanent home is in Spain, 2) You have no definite plans to return permanently to the US, and 3) Your temporary visit had a clear purpose (family emergency) with intent to return to Spain. You're correctly reporting those US days in Part II Question 14 - that's just for documentation. But for your qualifying period calculation, you remain a bona fide resident for all 365 days of 2024. This means you can exclude the full amount of your foreign earned income (up to the annual limit), regardless of those 22 days spent in the US. The IRS Publication 54 specifically addresses this scenario. After 12+ years of residence in Spain, brief visits for family emergencies absolutely don't change your bona fide residence status. You're good to go with 365 days!