To qualify for the Foreign income Exclusion, he must meet the requirements for the Physical Presence Test or the Bona fide Residence Test. Now we know that he is does not meet the requirement for the Physical Presence Test, let's see if he qualifies under the Bona Fide Resident test.
According to IRS and their explanation of the Bona Fide Resident Test, you can use the bona fide residence test to qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion, the foreign housing exclusion and/or the foreign housing deduction only if you are either:
- A U.S. citizen, or
- A U.S. resident within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 7701(b)(1)(A) who is a citizen or national of a country with which the United States has an income tax treaty in effect.
We know he is not a US Citizen but let's click on the link above to see if he qualifies as a US resident. In the link, it states that he is a resident if he meets the green card test or substantial presence test. Based on what you tell me, it sounds like he might be qualified in this test.
According to the IRS, To qualify for bona fide residence, you must reside in a foreign country for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year. An entire tax year is from January 1 through December 31 for taxpayers who file their income tax returns on a calendar year basis. During the period of bona fide residence in a foreign country, you can leave the country for brief or temporary trips back to the United States or elsewhere for vacation or business. You can read this by clicking on the Bona Fide Resident Test listed above.
This is the opposite from what your son is doing. He is living in the US for 9 months on a student visa I assume and returning home to the UK during the summer. Based on this, he does not meet the requirements for the test thus cannot claim the foreign income exclusion.
Hopefully I have laid the groundwork for your answer. Also I am not sure with his student visa if he declared himself an exempt individual from US taxation. There are a few caveats for foreign students coming to the US to pursue their educational goals.
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