Many states will not let you file a separate return if your federal return is married filing jointly. You'll need to check your state's personal income tax form filing instructions, and see what the ...
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Many states will not let you file a separate return if your federal return is married filing jointly. You'll need to check your state's personal income tax form filing instructions, and see what the rules are.
From the TurboTax FAQ - How do I prepare a joint federal return and separate state returns?:
Caution: Each state has its own rules regarding this topic. For example, Arizona allows couples to file separately even if they filed a joint federal return, whereas Colorado does not. California doesn't allow it either, with the exception of active-duty military and certain nonresidents. Before proceeding further, make sure this is allowed by your state's tax laws.
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Here's a brief overview of the procedure (see the sections below for detailed steps):
Prepare one Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) return to file with the IRS.
Prepare a mock Married Filing Separately (MFS) return for each taxpayer. This is for your records only and will be used to generate separate state returns for each person. The mock federal returns aren't filed.
Then, for the first taxpayer, label and use the first mock MFS federal return to prepare their state MFS return. Use only their income and their half of the deductions from the MFJ federal return.
This ensures that TurboTax only transfers the first taxpayer's income to their married filing separate state return.
File this MFS state return, not the mock federal return that it pulls the information from.
For the second taxpayer (spouse), label and use the second "mock" MFS federal return to prepare their state MFS return. Again, use only their income and their half of the deductions from the MFJ federal return.
File the second MFS state return, not the second mock federal return that it pulls the information from.
Which states are you filing in? Community users and employee experts can better help you understand what your rules are if you share what states you're working with.
See the above FAQ for the full, detailed instructions for filing separate states and a joint federal return - where allowed.