SECTION 2. BACKGROUND

1. Section 911(a) of the Code allows a “qualified individual,” as defined in § 911(d)(1), to exclude foreign earned income and housing cost amounts from gross income. Section 911(c)(3) of the Code allows a qualified individual to deduct housing cost amounts from gross income.

2. Section 911(d)(1) of the Code defines the term “qualified individual” as an individual whose tax home is in a foreign country and who is (A) a citizen of the United States and establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury that the individual has been a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire taxable year, or (B) a

Date of Departure

Country On or After

Macedonia July 27, 2001

5. Accordingly, for purposes of § 911 of the Code, an individual who left Macedonia on or after July 27, 2001, shall be treated for 2001 as a qualified individual with respect to the period during which that individual was present in, or was a bona fide resident of Macedonia, if the individual establishes a reasonable expectation of meeting the requirements of § 911(d) but for those conditions.

6. To qualify for relief under § 911(d)(4) of the Code, an individual must have established residency on or prior to July 27, 2001, or have been physically present in Macedonia on July 27, 2001, the date that the Secretary of the Treasury determined that individuals were required to leave the foreign country. Individuals who establish residency or are first physically present in Macedonia after July 27, 2001, shall not be treated as qualified individuals under § 911(d)(4) of the Code for taxable year

8. In order to assist those individuals who are filing prior year or amended tax returns, the Internal Revenue Service is republishing the countries listed for tax years 1998, 1999, and 2000, for which the eligibility requirements of § 911(d)(1) of the Code are waived under § 911(d)(4):

2002–14 I.R.B. 732 April 8, 2002

Tax Year 1998

Tax Year 1999

Tax Year 2000