Digital Nomad Taxes: U.S. Rules for Working Anywhere
Reviewed by the Fairlight Accounting cross-border tax team — U.S. & Canadian Tax Desks
Digital nomad taxes are the U.S. obligations of citizens and green-card holders who work remotely while moving between countries rather than settling in one. The U.S. rules were written for people who live somewhere, so nomads hit three problems the typical expat doesn't: proving a foreign tax home, counting days precisely, and not establishing residency anywhere while still being taxed by the U.S.
On this page
- Do I still file U.S. taxes if I have no fixed address?
- Can a nomad claim the foreign earned income exclusion?
- How do I count the 330 days?
- Do I owe self-employment tax?
- Does my state still tax me?
- When does a host country start taxing me?
- What about foreign bank accounts and platforms?
- Frequently asked questions
- Next step
Do I still file U.S. taxes if I have no fixed address?
Yes. U.S. citizens file on worldwide income wherever they are. A nomad with income above the filing threshold files Form 1040 every year, reports foreign accounts if the thresholds are crossed, and uses the exclusion or credit to reduce U.S. tax — same as any expat. What's different is qualifying.
Can a nomad claim the foreign earned income exclusion?
Only by meeting the physical-presence test — 330 full days outside the U.S. in any 12-month period — and having a tax home in a foreign country. The tax-home requirement is the trap. Your tax home is your regular place of business, or if you have none, your regular place of abode. If you keep an abode in the U.S. — a home you return to, where your family lives, where your belongings are — the IRS can treat your tax home as still being in the U.S., and the exclusion fails no matter how many days you spent abroad. True nomads with no U.S. base generally have their tax home wherever they are working; nomads who keep a U.S. home base often don't qualify.
How do I count the 330 days?
Full 24-hour days outside the U.S., in any consecutive 12-month window you choose — not necessarily the calendar year. Travel days that touch U.S. soil or airspace don't count. Time in international waters doesn't count as foreign. A short trip home can cost more days than it looks: fly out of New York on the 3rd and arrive abroad the 4th, and neither day counts. Keep a day log from passport stamps and airline records; the IRS asks for it.
Do I owe self-employment tax?
If you freelance, yes — 15.3% on net profit, and the foreign earned income exclusion does not reduce it. A totalization agreement can exempt you only if you're actually resident in the agreement country and covered by its system, which a nomad usually isn't. Nomads who are W-2 employees of a U.S. company have FICA withheld by the employer instead.
Does my state still tax me?
Possibly, and this is where nomads lose money. With no new residence to point to, your last state can argue you never left — you're just traveling. Establishing domicile in a no-income-tax state before departing (Florida, Texas, Nevada, and others), and cutting ties with the old state, is the usual protection.
When does a host country start taxing me?
Most countries treat you as a tax resident after 183 days in a calendar year, some sooner if you have a home or economic ties there. Digital nomad visas often come with a tax exemption or a special regime, but not always. If a country does tax you, that tax becomes creditable against U.S. tax on the same income.
What about foreign bank accounts and platforms?
Accounts opened abroad to receive payments count toward the FBAR threshold — the total of all foreign accounts exceeding $10,000 at any point in the year. Payment platforms based abroad can count too. Report them; the penalties for omission far exceed any tax involved.
Frequently asked questions
I'm never anywhere more than 90 days. Am I a resident nowhere?
For foreign purposes, often yes. For U.S. purposes you're always a resident citizen. The practical result: U.S. tax applies in full, with the exclusion available only if the tax-home test is met.
Can I use the bona fide residence test instead?
Not without actually residing in one foreign country for a full tax year. The physical-presence test is the nomad's route.
Does a digital nomad visa make me a tax resident of that country?
Not automatically. Some visas exempt holders from local tax; others don't. Check the specific program.
I kept my U.S. apartment but sublet it. Does that fix the tax-home problem?
It helps if you genuinely have no access to it and your life is abroad. A furnished apartment you can return to any time points the other way.
Next step
Fairlight Accounting handles U.S. domestic, cross-border (U.S.–Canada), and international tax returns, plus bookkeeping, payroll, and CFO advisory. If you work from wherever you happen to be and want the exclusion, the day count, self-employment tax, and your state settled properly, our U.S. Tax Desk can map your year with you. See pricing or book a free fit call.
Cross-border taxes, handled in one place
U.S. and Canadian filings prepared together by our U.S. and Canadian Tax Desks.
Book a free fit call