Track A: staying a US tax resident · Module 1 · about 6 minutes

A1 The day-count trap

Two different limits count your days in Europe, Schengen's 90 in 180 and each country's tax tests, and the EU now counts them for you at the border. How to plan a season around both.

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Concept

Track A has one goal: spend real time in Europe while every residence test still points to the US. Two separate limits count your days, and they count differently.

1. Schengen's 90 days in any 180. As an American visitor without a visa you may stay in the Schengen area (France, Spain, Portugal and 26 other countries together) for at most 90 days in any rolling 180-day window. Every day you're there, including the day you arrive and the day you leave, counts. It's a rolling window: on any given day, look back 180 days and count.

2. Each country's tax tests. France's tests look at the calendar year, at where you mainly stay, and at things that aren't days at all (lesson A3). Spain counts more than 183 days in the calendar year, and Portugal more than 183 days in any 12-month period, and both have tests that aren't about days (the Spain and Portugal courses, module 4). Staying well under 183 days is necessary for Track A, but it isn't enough.

The border now counts for you. Since 10 April 2026, the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records every entry and exit of a non-EU visitor electronically, with fingerprints and a photo, and calculates the time left under the 90/180 rule. Overstays show up automatically at your next crossing. A separate pre-travel authorisation (ETIAS) is expected to start in the last quarter of 2026.

Staying longer than 90 days needs a national long-stay visa or residence permit, and the three countries differ:

France issues a temporary long-stay visitor visa for a single stay of about four to six months (lesson A2, in the France course path). Days on it don't count toward the Schengen 90, and holders aren't registered in the EES.
Spain has no seasonal visa for retirees: its non-lucrative visa is a residence permit for people moving there. Track A seasons in Spain stay within 90 days in 180.
Portugal's D7 is also a residence route. Its Golden Visa gives a residence permit that asks for only seven days a year in Portugal, so its holders can stay in Portugal beyond 90 days without a new visa each year.

Your visitor days start counting again when a visa or permit ends.

What people miss

The window rolls. Ninety days from January to March, home in April, back in June: the January days are still inside the window in June.
All Schengen countries share one count. A week in Portugal on the way home uses the same 90 days.
Arrival and departure days both count. A flight landing on 3 January and leaving on 1 April is 89 days, not 88.
The tax count is separate. Days on a long-stay visa or residence permit still count for each country's tax tests.

Worked example

The Ortizes want 3 January to 30 April in Nice: 118 days. As visitors they'd pass 90 days in the window, and must leave by 2 April (90 days). Two ways to fix it:

Shorten the season to 3 January to 2 April, and travel outside Schengen (London, Morocco) or return home.
Get a temporary long-stay visa for the four months (lesson A2), so the Schengen count doesn't apply in France while it's valid.

They choose the visa, and use the counter below to check the year: 118 days in France, 247 in the US.

Your numbers

Log your planned trips. Choose France for days covered by a long-stay visa so they don't count toward Schengen.

Your trips

One row per stay outside the US: where, the day you arrived and the day you left. Both days count. Days with no trip are counted as days in the US.

Where	Arrived	Left

To remove a trip, clear both its dates.

Year to check

Residence permit or long-stay visa

Days in the country that issued it don't count toward 90/180.

Planning date

See your Schengen days on this date, and how long you could stay from it.

Schengen 90/180 in 2026

Within the limit. Your busiest 180 days held 80 of 90 allowed days (on 28 Mar).

On 26 Oct 2026 you have used 36 days of the last 180, with 54 left. Arriving that day and staying in a country that counts, you could stay until 18 Dec 2026.

Tax-residence day tests

Country	Days counted	Line	Status
Spain	80	over 183	Under More than 183 days in Spain in the calendar year (sporadic absences can count as days in Spain).
Portugal	36	over 183	Under More than 183 days in Portugal in any 12-month period that starts or ends in the tax year. Busiest 12 months: 21 Oct 2025 to 20 Oct 2026 (36 days in 2026).
France	0	over 183	Under Your main place of stay is France. More than 183 days in France in the calendar year is the usual sign of that, but it is an indicator rather than a strict count.

241 of 365 days in the US, 8 outside Schengen.

Days in each place, month by month. A travel day between two places counts in both.

Days are only part of the test

Staying under 183 days does not on its own keep you out of a country's tax system. Each country also looks at where your life is centred:

Spain: Your main base of business or economic interests is in Spain. Presumed resident if your spouse (not legally separated) and dependent minor children live in Spain.
Portugal: Having a home in Portugal on any day of that period, in conditions suggesting you intend to keep it as your habitual residence.
France: Your household (foyer) lives in France, even if you spend less time there. Your main professional activity is in France. The centre of your economic interests is in France. Any one of these tests on its own makes you resident.

And the US taxes its citizens wherever they live, so US tax returns continue either way.

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Check with an adviser

Your own days on the EU's Entry/Exit System record, if a border officer's count differs from yours.
When ETIAS starts and what it asks of you before your next trip.

Sources

Worked examples use 1 EUR = 1.12 USD so the numbers stay fixed; the calculators use today's rate (1.1193).