Substantial presence test calculator

You own a US LLC and you travel to the United States for clients, events or holidays. At some point, the number of days matters: past a threshold, the IRS treats you as a US tax resident, taxed on your income from everywhere. This calculator applies the IRS formula to your days, and the rest of the page explains the exceptions.

How the test works

IRS Publication 519 sets the rule. You meet the substantial presence test for the year if you were physically present in the United States on at least:

• 31 days during the current year, and
• 183 days during the 3-year period that includes the current year and the 2 years before it, counting all the days of the current year, 1/3 of the days of the year before and 1/6 of the days of the year before that.

Any part of a day counts as a day: landing at 11 pm is one day.

Owning a US LLC does not make you a US resident. Only your own days count, not your company's activity.

Days that do not count

The IRS page on the test lists them:

• days you commute to work in the US from a residence in Canada or Mexico, if you commute regularly;
• days you are in the US for less than 24 hours, in transit between two places outside the United States;
• days you are in the US as a crew member of a foreign vessel;
• days you cannot leave because of a medical condition that develops while you are in the US;
• days you are an "exempt individual", for example a student on an F, J, M or Q visa, or a teacher or trainee on a J or Q visa, who substantially complies with the visa.

Exempt individuals and people kept in the US by a medical condition file Form 8843 to exclude those days.

If you meet the test: two ways to stay a nonresident

1. The closer connection exception. According to the IRS, you can still be treated as a nonresident if you were present in the US less than 183 days during the year, kept a tax home in a foreign country during the entire year, had a closer connection to that country than to the US, and had not applied for a green card. You claim it on Form 8840, filed by the due date of your return. If you file it late without showing reasonable steps to comply, you lose the exception.
2. Your tax treaty. If you are also a resident of France, Switzerland or another treaty country under its own law, the treaty's tie-breaker rule decides where you are resident. If it points to the other country, you are treated as a nonresident for US income tax. You claim it on Form 1040-NR with Form 8833, as Publication 519 explains.

What changes for your LLC

Nothing on the LLC's side: as long as you are a nonresident, your single-member LLC keeps filing its Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120. If you become a US resident, the LLC is no longer foreign-owned, and you report its income on a Form 1040 instead. Our 1040-NR guide covers when a nonresident owner files personally.

Frequently asked questions

Does owning a US LLC make me a US tax resident?

No. Residency for a non-US citizen comes from a green card or from your own days of presence. The LLC's activity does not count.

Is a day in the US for a few hours a full day?

Yes, any part of a day counts, unless you were in transit between two foreign places for less than 24 hours.

I stay under 183 days every year. Am I safe?

Not always. The formula adds a third of last year and a sixth of the year before. 122 days every year is about 183 weighted days. The calculator shows where you stand.

Is this calculation tax advice?

No. It applies the formula from Publication 519 to the days you enter. Exceptions, visas and treaties depend on your facts.