Hello and thanks for any and all helpful advice.

This is a complicated question that when I last checked the IRS phone help couldn't answer. A bit of a challenge for any expert tax advisers.

I live abroad and have a moderate freelance income.

Because I work freelance I can't claim the foreign earned income exclusion even though my income is way way way below the maximum threshold for the exclusion.

Here is the tricky bit:

My spouse is a non-resident alien with no financial ties to the United States and as such refuses, on her own moral grounds, to register for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number with the IRS. Since she doesn't live in the U.S. and is not a U.S. citizen she has no legal responsibility to have anything to do with the IRS. I love my spouse but she can be very stubborn.

So, my question is how do I complete my taxes?

If I file married separately the IRS requires the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number for my spouse. If I file as Single I am lying about my marriage status and obviously I don't want to do this.

Perhaps the forms have changed with the IRS and I need an updated tax form but as far as I know my wife needs a number.

Thanks very much again and any help would be greatly appreciated.