Beware if you file a joint federal tax return from another state and one person files a Virginia State return. I file our Federal return from Florida where I do not need to file a state tax return. My husband works in Virginia and must file a Virginia tax return.
I followed TurboTax advice and constructed a 'dummy' federal tax return for my husband and then completed his Virginia return. He printed out his Virginia return from Turbotax. It included the dummy Federal return, and he sent them together to the Virginia Department of Taxation. That led to a huge problem and an inquiry opened by the IRS into fraudulent use of my husband's social security number. Once there is fraudulent use of a social security number, you can never again file electronically. We were very fortunate to get the right person on the phone at the IRS who recognized what had happened and knew exactly how to get out of the mess. We had to resubmit our joint Federal return by USPS clearly marked across the front page "no fraud" along with other documentation, and mail it to a specified desk in the Federal IRS. There was then more correspondence from the IRS to both our Florida address and my husband's Virginia address, before we got an all clear with the warning not to do it again!
I suggest people do not submit a Federal return with a Virginia State return unless the Virginia State Department of Taxation writes and asks for it!!
