Married or Single

[Dstnywlls]

My husband is in the Marine Corps. He lives in South Carolina and I live in California. As of right now he is stationed in Japan. I’m not sure if we should file single or together because he actually lives in South Carolina. We just got married December 2019.

[DoninGA]

If you are legally married as of 12/31/2019 then you can only file your 2019 tax return as either Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately.  Filing jointly is in most cases the best way to file a tax return when married.

[Carl]

If you were legally married on or before Dec 31 of the tax year, then your only filing status options are Married Filing Separate, or Married Filing Joint. Period. For a married couple to file separate is almost always the worst and most $COSTLY& way to file tax-wise. When a married couple files separate, they both *automatically* disqualify themselves for tax deductions and credits they would get if they filed joint. So you should file a joint return.

For the CA state tax return, it is *IMPORTANT* that you and your spouse BOTH read https://www.caltax.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/NonresidentsONLINE.pdf starting on page 50, "California Military Personnel assigned to stations outside California". Additionally, the active duty military member should read https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Portals/10/CG-1/PPC/guides/gp/spo/Deductions/State_Tax_Withholding_Excepti... for what to do via their CAC login to stop CA tax withholding, if they qualify.