Tax Home v. Abode – Are They The Same For Code §911 Purposes?

INTRODUCTION

The Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") provides a foreign earned income and housing cost exclusion to qualified individuals, subject to some limitations set out in Code §911(b)(2). Generally, a U.S. taxpayer can elect to exclude foreign earned income from gross income if (i) the taxpayer is an individual whose tax home is in a foreign country, and (ii) the taxpayer is either a bona fide resident of one or more foreign countries or physically present in such country or countries during at least 330 days in a 12-month period.¹ An individual cannot have a tax home in a foreign country for any period for which an abode is maintained within the U.S.²

In Qunell v. Commr.,³ the Tax Court addressed the meaning of tax home under Code §911 in a summary opinion, and highlighted the difference between the terms tax home and abode. Even though the summary opinion issued by the court cannot be used as a precedent for other cases, the decision should be considered