US citizen with a foreign national wife living abroad

[tfpsciences]

I am a US citizen, my 2 year old daughter is a dual US/foreign national, my wife is a foreign national, both live abroad and have never been to the US.

Should I just file as single with no children as I am not trying to claim anything from with with no SSN or the other one?

[Critter]

If you are a US citizen 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/questions/1944348-how-do-i-print-and-mail-my-return-in-turbotax-online

Your spouse would only need to report their income if you were filing your tax return as Married Filing Jointly, applying for an ITIN with the tax return and you would be providing a statement with your tax return that you want your Nonresident Alien Spouse Treated as a Resident.  See IRS Publication 54 Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad pages 6 and 7 - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf

Go to this IRS website for ITIN information - https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/general-itin-information

[tfpsciences]

Thanks.  I had read that in other threads but they were saying that writing in NRA is no longer acceptable but then someone quoted the 1040 instructions where it still says if they are no eligible to get a SSN or whatever to put NRA. 

[tfpsciences]

Then I only need my child's SSN/ITIN if I'm trying to claim them as a dependent?  My situation is that I do support both my wife and child even though they are both overseas.  My child has a US passport, if I get their SSN number then I can still claim them as a dependent for some deduction or whatever correct?  If not then do I just answer the TurboTax questions in a way where my child is not my dependent to avoid having to get a SSN?

[Critter]

To claim anyone on a US return they MUST have either an ITIN or a SSN ... do not file the return until you get one of them since you will not be able to amend the return later to get any credits allowed. 

If they will not have one of those IDs then you will need to not enter them at all on the return... go back and delete the entry.

[tfpsciences]

So then on TurboTax would I check my wife did not live with me from X to X as well as for all of year X, as well as was a nonresident alien for year X? Or none of the above?  That she had no income and will not file for year X or none of the above?

For my child I enter their info, that she is a US citizen/legal resident, but lived with me for 0 months.  She did not pay for more than half of her expenses, no custody agreement.  Since she lived with my wife overseas for more than 6 months of the year I check yes for if she lived with another relative but won't qualify as a dependent for that relative?  She didn't make more than X amount and I paid for more than half of her support.  It will say she qualifies for a dependent but since I do not have her SSN I should just delete her altogether correct?