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How do I prepare a joint federal return and separate state returns? My husband is active duty military, so his home of record is currently different than mine.

We need to file two different state income tax- since I work where we currently live and his home of record is a different state. How can we file on Turbotax, joint federal but two different state income?
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4 Replies
KrisD15
Expert Alumni

How do I prepare a joint federal return and separate state returns? My husband is active duty military, so his home of record is currently different than mine.

Yes, 

but first, as a military spouse, you may also use his resident state for filing. 

Second, which states are they? Some states have different rules for filing separate. 

 

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How do I prepare a joint federal return and separate state returns? My husband is active duty military, so his home of record is currently different than mine.

Thank you for the response! I'm not sure I can do that for 2023, as I'm currently working in VA with a VA-4 form for the year 2023. We will change this for 2024 so we can have the same state of residence for this tax year. His home of record is IN and we live/I work in Virginia. I called VA Dept if Taxation and they did mention that they allow couples to file separately even if they filed a joint federal return. Not sure how to move forward with that here on Turbotax though, as when we completed our filing it would not allow us to submit due to the two different states shown.

DMarkM1
Expert Alumni

How do I prepare a joint federal return and separate state returns? My husband is active duty military, so his home of record is currently different than mine.

You can choose your active military spouse's home of record as your resident state on your tax forms and file joint federal and IN resident state returns and a VA nonresident return for a refund.  You may owe some IN tax since none was withheld, but you will get a refund of all the VA taxes withheld to mitigate.

 

In the "My Info" section be sure your military spouse has answered all the military questions. For both of you:  Indicate you lived in IN on 31 Dec and "No" you did not live in any other states. Continue.

 

Still in the "My Info" section scroll down to the "Other State Income" section and answer "Yes" you made money in another state and select VA from the dropdown list. This will generate a VA nonresident return. Continue.

 

Enter your income and deductions as normal in the federal interview sections.

 

Then work the VA nonresident return.  Be sure to exclude all military income and your employee W2 income from VA taxation under the Military Spouse Relief Act.  This should result in a refund of all the VA withheld taxes.

 

Now you can work the IN resident return. IN is going to tax your VA income as an IN resident which will increase your tax liability there but again VA will be refunding the taxes paid to them.   

 

Remember to work with your employer to file the correct forms to get IN taxes withheld going forward.       

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How do I prepare a joint federal return and separate state returns? My husband is active duty military, so his home of record is currently different than mine.

Thank you very much! This was very helpful! Appreciate your input! 

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