Count Days in Each Country for Tax and Visas

Day counting is not one problem. It's two: (1) immigration compliance (entry and exit limits like rolling windows) and (2) tax residency exposure (calendar-year tests plus "center of life" facts). The only reliable way to do both is a repeatable system: define your ruleset, keep a single day ledger, attach proof per crossing, then export stable summaries you can hand to an accountant, lawyer, or visa officer.

DaysAround is built to operationalize this privately by reconstructing your travel timeline from photo metadata on-device, letting you fill gaps with manual entries, and exporting clean reports without uploading your location history to the cloud.

Step 1 - Define your ruleset (before you count anything)

You cannot "just count days." Authorities count days using specific definitions: calendar day vs midnights, special rules for arrival and departure, fixed tax years vs rolling visa windows. Your first deliverable is a short ruleset note you can keep with every export.

Immigration and visa rules (your compliance ledger)

Immigration limits are about presence and entry and exit compliance.

Common patterns you must label upfront:

Rolling window rules (example: Schengen 90/180) where the lookback window moves every day.
Per-visit limits (example: "up to 30 days per entry").
Calendar limits (less common for visas, but some programs use fixed periods).

Key point for your system: immigration questions often come down to exact entry and exit dates. Passport stamps help, but they are not complete in many real-world cases (e-gates, land borders, missing stamps).

DaysAround's Schengen calculator uses your timeline to compute rolling windows. Your job is to define what counts as a day for the relevant immigration rule, then keep a defensible timeline that matches that definition.

Tax residency rules (your tax ledger)

Tax residency is often triggered by a day threshold, but day counts are rarely the whole story.

High-level rulesets you will run into:

"183-day rule" heuristic: Many countries treat about 183 days of presence in a tax year as a major residency trigger. It is not universal. Some use 90/120/183 thresholds, multi-year averaging, or "habitual abode" concepts.
Additional tests beyond days: domicile, permanent home, center of vital interests, dependent family location, local registration, etc.
Treaty tie-breakers (OECD-style) when two countries claim you:
1. permanent home
2. center of vital interests
3. habitual abode
4. nationality
5. mutual agreement procedure

US Substantial Presence Test (SPT) formula (common and specific)

If you deal with US residency rules, the SPT is frequently the day-count math people get wrong.

You generally meet SPT if:

You are present at least 31 days in the current year, and
Your weighted total is 183 or more:

(all days this year) + (1/3 of days last year) + (1/6 of days two years ago) ≥ 183

There are exceptions and special categories, but the core idea is: you need multi-year day totals, not just "this year so far."

DaysAround's tax residency tracking is designed around days-per-country totals you can slice by year and compare against thresholds. It keeps your underlying timeline on-device so you can produce totals without sharing raw location history.

Write down your "day definition" in one paragraph

Different regimes define "day" differently. Your system should explicitly state which one you are using for each ledger.

Common day definitions you may need:

Any presence during a calendar day counts as a day
Midnights spent in-country count
Arrival and departure days treated specially (counts as full, partial, or excluded)

Personal ruleset note template (copy/paste)

Use this as your method statement header:

Purpose: Immigration compliance + tax residency presence tracking
Jurisdictions covered: [List]
Day definition (immigration): [Calendar day / midnight / any presence + arrival/departure treatment]
Day definition (tax): [Calendar day / midnight / any presence + arrival/departure treatment]
Windows: [Rolling 180 days / calendar year / fiscal year]
Primary sources: [Stamps, permits, I-94, tickets]
Secondary sources: [Card statements, telecom logs, calendar]
Device sources: [Photo metadata timestamps/geo processed on-device]

If you use DaysAround, this method statement pairs naturally with the exports you generate from your timeline, and it stays consistent as your travel volume increases.

Step 2 - Build a day ledger (single source of truth)

A ledger is not a diary. It is a structured dataset that can survive scrutiny. Keep one timeline, then produce two sets of summaries from it: immigration and tax.

Minimum columns your ledger needs

If you track in a spreadsheet, these columns are the minimum viable "audit-friendly" schema. If you use DaysAround, this is effectively the data model it helps you maintain through photo-based reconstruction plus manual edits.

Column	What it means	Why it matters in audits
Country	ISO name	Totals depend on country boundaries
Entry date	Date (and time if known)	Drives day counting and eligibility
Exit date	Date (and time if known)	Prevents overlaps and overcounts
Entry source	Stamp, ticket, photo, manual	Shows evidence quality
Exit source	Stamp, ticket, photo, manual	Same
Rule tag	"Schengen rolling," "Calendar-year tax," etc.	Shows which definition you used
Counted days	Numeric output under your day definition	Your headline number
Notes	Transit, e-gate, land border, uncertainty	Explains oddities
Evidence links	Filenames or attachment IDs	Makes proof retrievable

DaysAround is a countries visited tracker that builds the backbone of this ledger by scanning photo metadata on your iPhone. You can then add manual entries for days with no photos or stamp-free crossings, keeping everything in one place.

How to handle edge cases (without corrupting your ledger)

These are the situations that usually break spreadsheets.

Same-day trips (in and out in a few hours)

Decide your rule: "any presence counts" vs "midnight counts."
Record entry and exit times if you have them.
Attach proof (boarding pass, receipt, photo, e-gate record).

Airport transits

Some regimes count only if you enter the country (pass immigration). Others treat airside transit differently.
Your ledger should explicitly tag the segment as airside transit or entered country.

Time zones and flights that land "yesterday"

Store raw timestamps as shown on official documents when possible.
Add a note: "Local time in departure country" vs "local time in arrival country."
Your day definition should specify what date basis you use.

Missing entry or exit

Never hide uncertainty. Flag it.

Enter your best-supported date.
Mark the source as "inferred."
Attach the inference chain (ticket + card charge + photo timestamp).

DaysAround's photo-based reconstruction is valuable here because your camera roll often provides a time-stamped trail that fills the "missing stamp" gaps without relying on cloud location history. Learn how we approach photo tracking and why it works so well for rebuilding older travel.

Step 3 - Attach evidence to each crossing (create an "audit pack")

If questioned, you typically need two things: a defensible timeline and records that corroborate it. The easiest way to stay ready is to attach evidence per border crossing, not just per country.

Evidence hierarchy (strongest to weakest)

Keep multiple layers. If one fails (missing stamp), another supports the same date.

Primary and official (best):

Entry and exit stamps (when they exist)
Visas and residence permits
US I-94 records (where applicable)
E-gate receipts or official border movement reports (where available)

Commercial records (strong):

Flight, train, ferry, or bus tickets
Boarding passes
Hotel invoices and booking confirmations
Rental agreements

Financial and telecom (supporting):

Card transactions and bank statements
Roaming logs, SIM activation, carrier usage records
Toll, parking, or fuel receipts

Work and administrative (supporting):

Calendar invites with location
Coworking invoices
Medical or government appointments

Device-generated (useful when privacy matters):

Photo metadata (timestamp, timezone, GPS when available)
Locally stored map timelines (if you keep them)

DaysAround is designed for privacy-first evidence building. It reads photo metadata on-device and uses it to place you in countries on specific dates. Nothing is uploaded. No cloud sync. No analytics. If you want a where have I been map for your own sanity, you get it. If you need compliance-grade dates, you also get those.

What to do when stamps are missing (common in 2026)

Missing stamps are normal now.

Use a "two-plus-one" standard:

Two independent commercial records (ticket + lodging, or ticket + card charge)
Plus one device or admin record (photo metadata, calendar, SIM log)

Write a one-line note in your ledger: "No stamp due to e-gates. Supported by boarding pass + hotel invoice + geotagged photo."

Preserve originals and chain of custody

Audits often care about credibility. Make it easy to defend your data.

Keep original files (PDF tickets, original photos).
Avoid editing filenames and timestamps.
Export read-only snapshots (PDF/CSV) monthly and annually.
Keep backups in two places.

DaysAround helps because the raw timeline reconstruction happens on your phone. You can export summaries for professionals without granting them access to your entire photo library or location history. This is the core idea behind privacy-first tracking.

Evidence checklist per border crossing (copy/paste)

For each entry or exit, aim to store:

Official proof: stamp/permit/I-94/e-gate receipt (if available)
Transport: boarding pass or ticket
Lodging: invoice or reservation
Device: 1-3 photos taken that day (metadata intact)
Finance: 1 supporting transaction (optional but useful)
Notes: transit vs entered, missing-stamp explanation

Step 4 - Reconcile and sanity-check (catch mistakes early)

The best time to find a day-count problem is before a border officer or tax authority does.

Monthly reconciliation routine (15 minutes)

Do this once per month:

Compare ledger against tickets and bookings for the month.
Check for overlaps (being in two countries on the same day without a transit note).
Check for missing exits (open-ended stays).
Generate a monthly snapshot export and store it.

DaysAround makes this faster because you can scan photos once, then maintain incremental updates with manual entries when needed. You can also use the app to visualize your travel patterns across countries and spot anomalies quickly. See more on travel history.

Sanity checks that catch 90% of issues

Is any stay longer than your visa limit?
Do your Schengen-related entries create a rolling-window overstay?
Do your tax-year totals cross common thresholds (like ~183 days) in any country?
Do you have evidence attached for each border crossing?

If you want a system that supports both compliance types, you need a tool that keeps the whole timeline coherent. That's why DaysAround is built as a country counter plus a compliance-oriented ledger, not just a map.

Step 5 - Export summaries you can actually use

A good export answers the question fast and shows your method.

For tax: country totals by tax year plus tie-breaker notes

A tax-ready packet usually includes:

Days per country by tax year (or fiscal year, if relevant)
Entry and exit date ranges per country
Notes for "center of life" factors (home lease, family location, main bank, etc.)
Your method statement (the paragraph from Step 1)

DaysAround's exports are meant to be shareable. You can send totals and date ranges to an accountant without handing over raw location trails or granting a cloud app continuous tracking. This matters if you are privacy-sensitive or work in regulated industries.

For visas: entry and exit list plus rolling-window snapshots

Visa-focused exports usually need:

Chronological list of entries and exits for the relevant region
A snapshot of the rolling window status on key dates (when applicable)
Evidence references per crossing

If you are dealing with Schengen, DaysAround keeps a running calculation based on your recorded timeline. You do not have to redo math every time plans change. For deeper Schengen mechanics, see our dedicated guide on Schengen tracking.

Keep a method statement with every export

Every export should include:

The day definition used
The window used (calendar year vs rolling)
Data sources used
Any inferred dates and how you inferred them

This one page is what turns "I think I was there" into "Here is how I counted and what supports it."

A privacy-first way to do this (without cloud location tracking)

Most tracking tools take the same approach: always-on location permissions, background tracking, and cloud sync. That creates a permanent sensitive dataset on someone else's servers. For cross-border travelers, that dataset can expose visa status, tax exposure, routines, and future movements.

DaysAround takes a different approach:

On-device photo metadata scanning reconstructs your historical timeline from photos already on your iPhone.
Manual entries cover gaps like land borders, no-photo days, or stamp-free entries.
You can visualize your travel patterns across countries to sanity-check your ledger.
You can create clean exports (totals and timelines) for professionals.
No cloud sync, no analytics, no server-side processing. Your data stays on your phone.

This is the core DaysAround promise: you've already been tracking for years. Your photos already contain timestamps and often location. We help you turn that into an auditable travel record without uploading your life.

FAQ: Counting days per country and keeping proof

Does the day I arrive count? What about the day I leave?

It depends on the rule. Some count any presence during a calendar day. Some count midnights. Your ledger must state which definition you used and apply it consistently.

If I'm in a country for a few hours, does it count as a day?

Sometimes yes. Many "any presence" systems treat a few hours as a full day. Track the segment and tag it as a short stay or transit, with evidence.

Is day counting based on midnight, 24 hours, or calendar day?

All three exist in different regimes. Do not assume. Write your day definition into your method statement and use that for your counted-days column.

What if my passport has no stamp (e-gates or land borders)?

Use multiple records: tickets, lodging invoices, card transactions, and device-generated timestamps like photo metadata. Add a note explaining why the stamp is missing.

How do I count days when I transit through an airport?

Separate "airside transit" from "entered the country." Put that classification in your notes and attach the supporting record.

What if my flight crosses time zones? What date do I use?

Use the date basis required by your ruleset. When unclear, store both local timestamps in notes and rely on official records when available.

How do I handle overlapping rules (tax year vs rolling visa window)?

Use one timeline, then generate two summaries: a tax-year report and a rolling-window report. Do not try to force one counting method onto both.

What evidence is strongest if a tax authority or immigration officer asks?

Official border records first (stamps, permits, I-94). Then tickets and invoices. Then supporting items like card charges and photo metadata. The best answer is a timeline plus corroboration per crossing.

How long should I keep records?

Keep them long enough to cover audit windows and future immigration questions. Practically, many travelers keep at least several years of exports and the underlying evidence.

Can I rely on Google or Apple location history?

It can help, but it is not designed as an audit pack and it often pushes data into cloud services. If you are privacy-sensitive, build a record from on-device sources like photo metadata plus retained commercial documents.

Closing: Build a system you can defend

Day counting becomes stressful when you do it from memory or when your "proof" is scattered across inboxes and apps. A defensible system is simple: ruleset, ledger, evidence, exports, and monthly reconciliation.

DaysAround helps you implement that system privately by turning photo metadata into a historical travel timeline on-device, letting you add manual crossings, and exporting clean summaries without uploading your location history.

This article is informational and not legal or tax advice. Rules vary by country and visa type. For decisions with consequences, confirm your ruleset with a qualified tax or immigration professional.

Sources

OECD Model Tax Convention (tie-breaker concepts): https://www.oecd.org/tax/treaties/model-tax-convention-on-income-and-on-capital-condensed-version-20745419.htm
IRS Substantial Presence Test (SPT): https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/substantial-presence-test
European Commission overview of Schengen (context for immigration area): https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/schengen-area_en
U.S. CBP I-94 (official entry record): https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/

How to Count Days in Each Country (and Keep Evidence) for Tax Residency and Visas