Federal Tax Day – Current, I.2, Eligibility Requirements Waived for Individuals in Iraq, Burma, Chad, Afghanistan and Ethiopia Claiming Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (Rev. Proc. 2022-18), (Mar. 28, 2022)

Under IRC Sec 911(d)(4)- Waiver of Time Requirements- The IRS allows for under extraordinary circumstances both the BFR and PPT minimum time requirements to be waived if you must leave a foreign country due to war, civil unrest or similar adverse conditions.   The IRS publishes a list of the countries that qualify for this waiver of time requirement and effective dates that the waiver applies to.   On March 28, 2022 Congress passed Rev. Proc. 2022-18 waiving the requirements for Individuals in Iraq, Burma, Chad, Afghanistan and Ethiopia.

Eligibility Requirements Waived for Individuals in Iraq, Burma, Chad, Afghanistan and Ethiopia Claiming Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (Rev. Proc. 2022-18), (Mar. 28, 2022)

Eligibility Requirements Waived for Individuals in Iraq, Burma, Chad, Afghanistan and Ethiopia Claiming Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (Rev. Proc. 2022-18), (Mar. 28, 2022)

The IRS has provided a waiver for any individual who failed to meet the foreign earned income or deduction eligibility requirements of Code Sec. 911(d)(1) because adverse conditions in a foreign country precluded the individual from meeting the requirements for the 2021 tax year. Qualified individuals may exempt from taxation their foreign earned income and housing cost amounts.

Relief Provided

The countries for which the eligibility requirements have been waived for 2021 are Iraq, Burma, Chad, Afghanistan and Ethiopia. Accordingly, an individual who left the following countries beginning on the specified date will be treated as a qualified individual with respect to the period during which that individual was present in, or was a bona fide resident of the country: (1) Iraq on or after January 19, 2021; (2) Burma on or after March 30, 2021; Chad on or after April 17, 2021; (4) Afghanistan on or after April 27, 2021, and; (5) Ethiopia on or after November 5, 2021. Individuals who left the abovementioned countries must establish a reasonable expectation that he or she would have met the requirements of Code Sec. 911(d)(1) but for those adverse conditions. Further, individuals who established residency, or were first physically present in Iraq, after January 19, 2021, are not eligible for the waiver.