Do I need to file Form 8840 as a Canadian snowbird?

If you meet the substantial presence test and want to claim the closer connection exception, Form 8840 is the statement you use. But check the gate before anything else. The exception is only available if you were in the US on fewer than 183 days in the current year alone, and no amount of Canadian ties gets you past that. Most people who ask about this form are really asking about the wrong number.

What does the closer connection exception actually require?

Two things, and both have to be true at once. The statute is short and its own heading tells you the first condition before you read the text. You need fewer than 183 days of US presence in the current year, and you need a tax home in a foreign country plus a closer connection to that country than to the US.

“Exception where individual is present in the United States during less than one-half of current year and closer connection to foreign country is established. An individual shall not be treated as meeting the substantial presence test of this paragraph with respect to any current year if, (i) such individual is present in the United States on fewer than 183 days during the current year, and (ii) it is established that for the current year such individual has a tax home … in a foreign country and has a closer connection to such foreign country than to the United States” IRC 7701(b)(3)(B)

Note the word “and” between the two limbs. This is not a weighing exercise where strong Canadian ties compensate for a long stay. Limb (i) is a gate, and it either opens or it doesn’t.

Which 183 days matter?

The current year’s, counted plainly. This is the distinction that trips people, because the substantial presence test itself also produces a 183 figure, and it gets there a completely different way: it adds all of the current year’s days, a third of the prior year’s, and a sixth of the year before that.

“the sum of the number of days on which such individual was present in the United States during the current year and the 2 preceding calendar years (when multiplied by the applicable multiplier determined under the following table) equals or exceeds 183 days” IRC 7701(b)(3)(A)(ii), the substantial presence test itself

So a snowbird who spends four months in Florida every year for three years can trip the weighted formula while staying comfortably under 183 actual days in any single year. That person is exactly who the exception is written for. Someone who spends seven months in one year is not, whatever their ties look like.

What does the IRS look at to decide “closer connection”?

A named list of contacts, and it’s broader than most people expect. The regulation asks whether you’ve maintained more significant contacts with the foreign country than with the US, and then enumerates the facts to consider. The list is expressly not exhaustive.

“In determining whether an individual has maintained more significant contacts with a foreign country than the United States, the facts and circumstances to be considered include, but are not limited to, the following” Treas. Reg. 301.7701(b)-2(d)(2)

The regulation looks at the location of	Why it catches people
Your permanent home	A US property you use seasonally still counts as a location
Your family	Family who moved with you cuts the other way
Personal belongings, including cars and furniture	Cars registered and garaged in the US
Social, political, cultural or religious organisations	Club and congregation memberships in the US
Routine personal banking	A US chequing account used for everyday spending
Business activities other than your tax home	Side activity conducted from the US
The jurisdiction issuing your driver’s licence	A Florida licence is a visible, dated contact
The jurisdiction where you vote
The country of residence you designate on forms	Anything you have already signed
The types of official forms you file	The regulation names Form 1078 as an example

The last two rows are the ones worth acting on early. Documents you have already signed are evidence, and they’re the hardest to walk back later.

Does the exception help if I’ve already crossed 183 days?

No, and this is the point at which the analysis has to move somewhere else. Once you’re over 183 days in the current year, limb (i) fails and the closer connection exception is unavailable no matter how the factor list would have come out. The treaty tie-breaker is a different mechanism with different rules, and this page does not cover it.

• How the day count actually works for a snowbird, which owns the counting and the decision
• Whether you’re still a Canadian tax resident
• When a treaty position has to be disclosed on Form 8833

Worth being precise about what this page does and does not settle. It covers the statutory conditions for the exception and the factors the regulation lists. It does not cover the filing mechanics or deadline for Form 8840 itself, nor the consequences of not filing the statement, because those sit in procedural rules this page has not worked through.

What should I do next?

Count your actual days in the US for the year, on their own, before looking at anything else. Under 183 and the exception is at least available to you. At or over 183 and it isn’t, which moves the question to the treaty rather than to this form. Then, if the exception is live, go through the regulation’s list and note which side each contact falls on while you can still document it.

This guide is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation. Which points apply, and how, depends on your facts.