Bona Fide Residence Test
Category: International · Related form: Form 2555
An FEIE eligibility test based on facts and circumstances showing you are a bona fide resident of a foreign country for an uninterrupted period that includes a full tax year.
How Bona Fide Residence Test fits 2026 planning
Bona Fide Residence Test sits inside cross-border reporting, exclusions, credits, and information returns that travel with foreign income. For tax year 2026, US Tax Tools treats year-scoped constants (brackets, contribution limits, wage bases, credit schedules) as separate datasets — so explanations of Bona Fide Residence Test should be read with the same year selected in any linked calculator.
Category focus: International. Readers usually land on this page while comparing a paycheck estimate, a credit phaseout, or a retirement contribution room figure that depends on understanding Bona Fide Residence Test first.
Worked example
A long-term foreign posting with a local home and intent to reside can support bona fide residence even with some U.S. trips.
Treat the example as a teaching sketch, not a filing position. Change filing status, state residency, or mid-year events and the same definition of Bona Fide Residence Test can produce a different cash outcome even when the glossary text stays the same.
What to watch for
Definitions of Bona Fide Residence Test can differ slightly across IRS publications, SSA rules, Marketplace subsidy worksheets, and state agencies. When two programs both say “income,” confirm which modification rules apply — MAGI for one credit is not always MAGI for another.
Legislation and inflation adjustments can move the dollar thresholds around Bona Fide Residence Test without renaming the concept. Prefer the effective date on the primary source (Rev. Proc., SSA notice, USDA table, or state DOR bulletin) over any blog summary — including this one if a later notice supersedes it.
On a filed return, Bona Fide Residence Test most often surfaces around Form 2555. Read the official IRS instructions for that form for the tax year you are filing — glossary pages summarize concepts; they do not replace line-by-line worksheets.
Next step
When you are ready to model numbers, open the Bona Fide Residence Test related calculator on US Tax Tools. Engines keep tax-year datasets separate so a 2025 habit does not silently reuse a 2026 constant.
Related reading: Tax insights for longer 2026 explainers, Methodology for how engines store cents and traces, and Disclaimer for educational-use limits.