NRA/Nonresident Alien Spouse Help Please

[shanesnh]

I finally started filing and I already don't know how to answer these properly.

My wife is Korean (never set foot on US soil so is an NRA -- has NO TAX LIABILITY TO THE US!) so I will have to file Married filing separately and apparently print it out and write NRA as she has no SSN/ITIN and there is NO reason for her to get one (except for the IRS to take foreign money they are not owed from a nonresident alien who will never live in the US, right?) Ok sorry for the mini rant.

What do I do on these screens?

First page:

- Pretty sure I check she is an NRA on the first page and move on, right?

Second page:

- Of course she has income IN KOREA (nothing to do with US) so what do I do with that checkbox? She has no US-taxable or US-made income. She's an NRA.

- What about her "filing a tax return". Of course she will not file a US return. She will file her normal KOREAN return.

- She is not a dependent of anyone in any country (Korea or US), so I assume I select no there?

TIA.

[tagteam]

I will page Champ @pk.

[pk]

@shanesnh ,  I tried out your scenario and  choose the following:

(a)   Spouse is NRA  ( I used Jane as a stand-in name to make things easy )

(b)  Jane will not file a tax return

(c) Janes Birth date needed , even though it is not used  -- just to satisfy TurboTax.

(d)  I used a dummy SSN for  Jane ( just to satisfy the software )

(e) I used " she lived with me all year "

 I suggest that when all done, print the forms and  replace the SSN for Jane with NRA -- so the 1040 looks correct and then mail in the return.

Hope this helps 

Is there more I can do for you ?

[Opus 17]

Form 1040 changed slightly from past years so the current advice is a bit different.

You must enter a name, date of birth and SSN to satisfy Turbotax, try 999-88-9999 (all nines does not work).

Then when you print the return, you will see a dotted line in the "Filing Status" box that says "If you checked MFS status, enter the name of your spouse."  However, don't enter the name of the spouse, enter "NRA" instead.  And if the fake SSN is printed in the box for the SSN, use some white out to cover it up.