Help with understand a sentence in tax

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I hope someone can help me confirm my understanding of this sentence on IRS. Mostly the word’exclude’ threw me off.

“If you exclude days of presence in the U.S. for purposes of the substantial presence test because you were an exempt individual or were unable to leave the U.S. because of a medical condition or medical problem, you must include Form 8843 ”

My understanding is: if you don’t want to use days of presence in the US for the SP test, you must include form 8843.

Please help me out. I strongly believe the language is understandable to Americans. Whenever I gave this question to an American, she immediate says she doesn’t know anything about taxes before thinking about my question, which made me mad.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

I am not a tax professional. This is not to be taken as tax advice. I will not be liable for any adverse effects. It is my understanding of the text.

If you are living in the USA for more than a certain number of days, you will be counted as a resident (for tax purposes). These instructions determine this

Substantial Presence Test

If you are not a US citizen, but present in the US, you will be considered a U.S. resident for tax purposes if you meet the substantial presence test for calendar year 2019. To meet this test, you must be physically present in the United States on at least:

31 days during 2019, and
183 days during the 3-year period that includes 2019, 2018, and 2017, counting:
1. All the days you were present in 2019, and
2. ¹/₃ of the days you were present in 2018, and
3. ¹/₆ of the days you were present in 2017.
Suppose you were in the US 36 days in 2019 but for 7 of these you were in the hospital which prevented you from leaving. Suppose you also pass the test for "183 days during the 3-year period." If these days are deducted (excluded), you will have 29 days, and fail this "substantial presence" test.
If you want to claim this exclusion, and claim you were only present in 2019 for 29, not 31 days, you must fill in this form and either include it with your tax return or file it separately.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8843.pdf
See part IV on page 2. It must be signed by a doctor.

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I am not a tax professional. This is not to be taken as tax advice. I will not be liable for any adverse effects. It is my understanding of the text.

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