The IRS apparently never considered the possibility of a U.S. citizen or resident alien who is required to file IRS Form 8615 and whose parents are foreign or do not file a US tax return. The IRS does not provide any instructions or guidance for this situation.
The best that can be suggested is the following, with thanks to SuperUser, macuser_22, who suggested this approach. You may be able to access IRS Form 8615 questions by following these steps:
- Down the left side of the screen, click on Tax Tools,
- Click on Tools.
- Click on Topic Search.
- At the box I’m looking for, enter 8615. Click Go.
- At the screen Child’s Unearned Income, click Continue.
- Answer the parent questions. When TurboTax asks whether your parents are filing a joint tax return, answer Yes even though they aren't. That will eliminate the question with the three options for filing status.
- When it asks for your parents' taxable income, enter zero. That is true, since they have no U.S. taxable income.
- Leave all the other income questions blank.
- Also leave your parent's Social Security Number blank.
- When the error check tells you that the SSN must be entered, just click Continue. You will not be able to e-file.
- Print the tax return.
- In the space for the parent's Social Security number on Form 8615, write NRA (for NonResident Alien).
- File the return by mail.
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