ProofstayGuide · Snowbirds and US tax
Form 8840: the closer connection exception
Quick answer
Form 8840 tells the IRS that, although you meet the Substantial Presence Test, you should be treated as a nonresident because your home and life are in another country. You can use it if you were in the US fewer than 183 days in the year. Each person files their own, and if you don't file a US return it is due by 15 June, mailed to the IRS in Austin, Texas. It asks for your exact days in the US for three years.
Who files
Do you need Form 8840?
Work through three questions for the year:
- Do you meet the Substantial Presence Test? At least 31 days in the US this year, and 183 or more counting all of this year's days, a third of last year's and a sixth of the year before. If not, you are already a nonresident and don't need Form 8840.[1,2] Check with the calculator.
- Were you in the US fewer than 183 days this year? If you were there 183 days or more, you can't use Form 8840.[2,3]
- Was your life somewhere else all year? You need a tax home in another country for the whole year (and no US tax home at any time), a closer connection to that country than to the US, and no green card application or steps towards one.[2,3]
If the answers are yes, yes and yes, file Form 8840 for that year, every year it applies.
The typical snowbird
You winter in Florida from 1 November to 31 March: 152 days in 2024, 151 in 2025 and 151 in 2026. For 2026, 151 + 50⅓ + 25⅓ = 226⅔, so you meet the Substantial Presence Test, even though no single year comes close to 183. You were in the US 151 days in 2026, fewer than 183, so Form 8840 keeps you a nonresident. Without it, the IRS can treat you as a US resident, taxed on your worldwide income.
How to fill it in
Two pages, four parts
Top of the form
Your name and, if you have one, your US taxpayer identification number. Fill in your addresses (in your country of residence and in the US) only if you are filing the form on its own, not with a US return.[2]
Part I: General information
Your visa type and the date you last entered the US (if you had no visa on the last day of the year, your immigration status instead), your citizenship and passport details, and line 5: the number of days you were in the US in each of the last three years. Count any part of a day as a day.[2] Line 6 asks whether you applied for a green card; if yes, you can't use this form.
Part II or Part III: Your foreign tax home
Part II if you had a closer connection to one country all year (where your tax home was, and which country). Part III only if you moved your tax home from one foreign country to another during the year. Complete one, not both.[2]
Part IV: Significant contacts
Where your permanent home, family, cars, belongings, banks, driver's license, voter registration, documents, income and investments are, whether you had US-source income, and whether you qualify for a national health plan, such as your provincial health card. The answers should point clearly to your home country.[2]
Sign and send
Sign at the bottom if you file it on its own. Mail it to:
Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Center Austin, TX 73301-0215
Send it by the 1040-NR due date: 15 June after the year ends if you had no US wages subject to withholding (15 June 2027 for 2026). Use a mailing method that gives you proof of the date, and keep a copy. If you do file a 1040-NR, attach Form 8840 to it instead.[2,3]
Sources
- IRS, Substantial presence test. Checked 25 Oct 2026.
- IRS, Form 8840 (2025) and instructions (PDF). Checked 25 Oct 2026.
- IRS, Closer connection exception to the substantial presence test. Checked 25 Oct 2026.
Line 5 asks for exact days
Have three years of days ready.
Form 8840 wants your days in the US for three years, and an IRS question about any of them is answered with records. Proofstay records the country, state or province you are in every day on your iPhone, counts the Substantial Presence Test, the 182-day visitor limit and OHIP's 153 days together, and turns any year into a day-by-day report for your accountant. Free to record.
See how Proofstay works →FAQ
Form 8840 questions
Who needs to file Form 8840?
Anyone who is not a US citizen or green card holder, meets the Substantial Presence Test for the year, and wants to be treated as a nonresident because they spent fewer than 183 days in the US that year and kept a tax home and a closer connection in another country. If you don't meet the Substantial Presence Test, you don't need it.
When is Form 8840 due?
If you file a US return (Form 1040-NR), attach it and file by the return's due date. If you don't file a return, mail it by the 1040-NR due date, which is 15 June after the end of the year for people with no US wages subject to withholding. For 2026, that is 15 June 2027.
Where do I mail Form 8840?
If you are filing it on its own, mail it to: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215. Keep a copy and proof of mailing.
Do spouses file one Form 8840 together?
No. Each person who claims the exception files their own Form 8840.
What happens if I file Form 8840 late or not at all?
You lose the closer connection exception and can be treated as a US resident for tax, taxed on your worldwide income, unless you can show by clear and convincing evidence that you took reasonable steps to learn about and meet the filing requirement.
Can I file Form 8840 if I spent 183 days or more in the US?
No. The exception is only for years with fewer than 183 days in the US. Above that, a tax treaty may still help; the Canada-US treaty has tie-breaker rules claimed on Form 8833. Ask a cross-border tax adviser.