My spouse doesn't have a Social Security Number

[Josefh]

Hello, TurboTax is asking me to add my spouse's Social Security Number, but my spouse is NOT a US person, NOT a US resident, NOT a US green card holder and NOT a US citizen. And if my memory serves me right, last time I had to mail the tax return because TurboTax wouldn't e-file it for me without my spouse's SSN (my spouse doesn't have one). What should I do in this case? Thank you for your assitance and help in advance!

[DoninGA]

See this TurboTax support FAQ when filing if your spouse is a nonresident alein - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-credits-deductions/file-taxes-spouse...

[Josefh]

Thank you for your resply! Unfortunately the only option I have is to file "married filing separately" & I don't think I will be able to e-file in this case ...

[Josefh]

IRS says "If you and your spouse do not choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident, you may be able to use head of household filing status. To use this status, you must pay more than half the cost of maintaining a household for certain dependents or relatives other than your nonresident spouse. " I don't pay more than 1/2 the cost of maintaining a household for certain dependents or relatives because I don't have dependents nor relatives who are living with me.

[DoninGA]

@Josefh Then you are not eligible for Head of Household Filing status.

If you are a US citizen or US resident and your spouse does not have a Social Security number or an ITIN and you are not applying for an ITIN with the tax return then you can only file your tax return as Married Filing Separately.  Where asked to enter the spouse's Social Security number enter 999-88-9999.  You can only print and mail your tax return, it cannot be e-filed.  When you print the tax return erase the Social Security number for your spouse and manually enter NRA for non-resident alien.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for the procedure to print and mail a tax return using the online editions - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/printers-printing/print-mail-return-turb...