I had the same situation.  I am a US citizen living abroad.  The foreign earned income exclusion excludes all of my income except one week of salary from being in the US on business.  This results in a gross income of only a few thousand dollars.  Can I apply the standard deduction to this small amount of US income and reduce my taxable income to $0?  or are there any restrictions on applying the standard deduction to US income, if you have used the foreign earned income exclusion?