FEIE (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion) 330 day physical presence test not finished yet, How do I proceed? Do I file for an extension?

[8extra]

I was out of the USA July 26 2023-Dec 17 2023 and Jan 14- to Present
So my 330 day period starts on July 26th.

[DaveF1006]

Yes, you can request an extension of time to claim the foreign income exclusion if you need the time to meet either the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test.

Extension to Claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

[pk]

@8extra , agreeing with my colleague @DaveF1006 ,  would just like add a few items for your consideration:

(a)  if you left the USA on  July 26th of 2023 then your first full day for start of the 12 month test period  may be a day or two after the 26th , depending where your foreign tax home is.  For example if you  moved to UK, then you would arrive in UK on the morning of 27th -- thus your first full day would be 28th.  It is a small point but  .....

(b)  If a US person is abroad ( out of US ) on the 15th of April  ( for example ), your filing date is  automatically extended  to 15th of June --- you tax  payment date is not changed however.  No extension required.  I agree however, that for you to take advantage of the FEIE, you need to file for an extension -- automatically approved to Oct. 15th.  But your tax payment date is still  April 15th.

(c) TurboTax will ask you for the time spent  back in the USA --- Test period  Jul 28th. 2023 through  July 28th. 2024 -- and your response would be  Dec17th. through Jan 14th  ( those are the days you spend in the US)  -- this would mean that you still have to declare at least 1 business days  in the USA -- the program  will not accept ZERO days on business.

Does this make sense  or am I confusing you ?

Is there more i can dop for you ?

pk

[8extra]

a. and b. make sense. I will be getting a refund, so I don't have a payment that would otherwise be due on April 15th. But I probably won't get the refund until Oct. 15th when I complete the taxes correct? 

For c. it will probably make sense when I go through the software and input my data. 

I will be using the desktop home and business version of TurboTax to complete my taxes for Oct. 15th. To file the extension should I attempt to fill out my taxes completely in the desktop app and then request the extension in the desktop app? Or should I go straight to https://turbotax.intuit.com/irs-tax-extensions/ and file the extension online? (And not use the desktop version until October)