If you only had military income--
You would file as Colorado resident and report all income. You must use the same filing status as on your federal return, but your spouse’s income will be treated as non-Colorado income for the Colorado return.
For Hawaii, if a husband and wife are entitled to file a joint federal income tax return for the taxable year, then they may elect to file jointly or separately for Hawaii income tax purposes. The easiest option would be to file joint- both as nonresidents, and only include her Hawaii income as state-source income.
COLORADO:
A serviceperson who is a Colorado full-year resident is taxed in the same manner as any other Colorado resident. Colorado resident service member are those who are Colorado residents when they enter the service or those who are from another state and who choose to become Colorado residents.
The Colorado income tax filing status (joint or separate) must match the status used for federal income tax filing purposes. For example, if a taxpayer and spouse filed a joint federal return, they must file a joint Colorado return. If a taxpayer and spouse filed separate federal returns, they must file separate Colorado returns.
HAWAII:
Domicile is the place of an individual's true, fixed, permanent home and the principal establishment to which the individual has the intention of returning whenever the individual is absent.
A nonresident servicemember stationed in Hawaii in compliance with military or naval orders is not a Hawaii resident and will be treated as a nonresident for Hawaii income tax purposes unless the servicemember establishes residence or domicile in Hawaii.
A nonresident spouse of a servicemember who is present in Hawaii solely to be with the servicemember serving in compliance with military or naval orders is not a Hawaii resident and will be treated as a nonresident unless the spouse establishes residence or domicile in Hawaii.
However, your nonresident spouse does not satisfy the conditions prescribed under the MSRRA(see below), so the nonresident spouse’s income from services performed in Hawaii is considered Hawaii-sourced income and is subject to Hawaii income tax or Hawaii withholding.
To qualify for the MSRRA 1. The servicemember (as defined in 10 U.S.C. §101(a)(5)) is present in Hawaii solely in compliance with military or naval orders;
2. The spouse is in Hawaii solely to be with the servicemember; and
3. The spouse and servicemember are domiciled in the same state and that state is not Hawaii.
Special rules apply if your spouse is considered a nonresident alien or a dual-status alien. For Hawaii income tax purposes, a nonresident alien is an individual who is not a U.S. citizen, and who has not been in Hawaii for more than 200 days during the taxable year, or is in Hawaii for a temporary or transient purpose. A dual-status alien is a person who was a resident alien for part of the year and a nonresident alien for the other part of the year. The special rules for nonresident aliens and dual-status aliens will not apply if you elect to be taxed as a resident alien on your federal income tax return.
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