If the active duty military member has not taken any actions to change their resident state while on active duty then the home of record (where they joined the military) is their resident state (they are one and the same). The spouse of the active duty military member simply has to claim the same resident state as their military spouse under the Military Spouse Relief Act. If they do not claim the same resident state as the active service member then they must file according to the laws of the state(s) they are residing (stationed in) and/or working in.
MO does not tax military active duty pay but does tax other income including the nonmilitary spouse's income if they are claiming their resident state under the Military Spouse's Relief Act.
According to MO Department of Revenue, the active duty military pay of a military service member who has MO as their home of record (same as resident state for tax purposes) but are stationed outside of MO, is excluded from MO taxable income. Further, if there is no other non-active duty income then there will be no income to report to MO and the taxpayer is considered nonresident for tax purposes and does not have a MO filing requirement.
However, if the servicemember had MO taxes withheld and wants those refunded they would file a nonresident return.
The same is not true of the servicemember's non-military spouse who is a MO resident (under the Military Spouse Relief Act) but is stationed outside of MO to be with military spouse on orders. If the spouse has income then that income is considered MO source income and is taxable by MO. The spouse is a MO resident for tax purposes.
So for MO joint filers that sets up the potential situation of two different tax filing statuses on one return. However, the married active duty servicemember does not have to file as nonresident. The active duty spouse can answer "Yes" to having income other than active military pay to allow for the same resident filing status as the nonmilitary spouse. The active duty military income from the military w2 is still excluded from MO taxable income. The MO tax will be the same as only the nonmilitary spouse income will be taxed and the MO taxes withheld from the active duty pay will count toward the MO tax bill.
Here is the MO reference. TurboTax appears to handle the situation according to MO law.
@ezakin
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