Taxes for expat students living abroad

[katee1890]

Hello, I am a PhD student living abroad since 2015. My PhD stipend is minimum wage in my country of residence, and therefore I should be exempt from double taxation. However, my research project requires that I spend 1-2 months processing samples in a laboratory within the US. I have read that because I was in the US for over 30 days, I am no longer exempt? Does it matter if the 30 days in the US was work-related?

[TomD8 · Accepted solution]

The foreign tax exclusion requires that the taxpayer be physically present in the foreign country for at least 330 days during a 12-month period.  This IRS reference gives full details:  https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion-physical-pre...

[TaxGuyBill]

As Example #2 in that link shows, you may be able to use TWO 12 month periods during the tax year.  However, TurboTax does not support doing that, so you would either need to manually fill out the Forms or go to a tax professional.

[bine22]

Since it's a stipend, it might not be considered earned income.

[TaxGuyBill]

You may be correct, but because it is based on "minimum wage", I interpreted it as wages.  However, I could be wrong.