form 2555 foreign earned income and multiple dates for 2021

[drp10]

I am trying to fill out the foreign earned income exclusion.  I completed a term a service on March 1, 2021 and returned to the US, but then I started a new term of service on September 4, 2021.  That means I was out of the US for a total of 178 days and in the US for 187 days.  The problem I'm having is that I cannot enter the 2 different windows (Jan 1 - March 1, and Sept 4 - Dec 31) and therefore TT is either saying that I have a 365 day deduction -- full exclusion, or no exclusion at all.  After consulting with my tax professional (not turbo tax expert), I have been informed that line 31 of the form 2555 should be 178, but I can't seem to change it.

Any ideas?

[DaveF1006]

It depends. When you say service, are you in the military or an employee of the federal government? If so, you aren't eligible for the Foreign income Exclusion. 

Otherwise, you wouldn't qualify for the exclusion because you do not meet the criteria of the physical presence test that stipulates you must be physically present in the foreign country for 330 days during the year.