Do we file in both states?

[iamconfused]

My husband and I are wanting to file jointly this year. He is stationed in Louisiana, but SLR is Indiana. I moved down from Indiana to live with him after we got married. The last few years we have filed married, filing separate and I always filed through Louisiana since I am working down here while he is stationed here. This year we are trying to file jointly but my husband heard about the MRSSA rules and says we don’t have to file through Louisiana this year and just Indiana as that is technically our SLR. But I never completed a Nonresidency form for Louisiana because I did not know it was a thing. So now we are confused. It says we will owe Louisiana about $700 if we file with them but I have never owed money to them at all. Do we file with both? Do we just file Indiana? I made no income through Indiana, it was all in Louisiana and even claimed unemployment in Louisiana last year. He only made military income and was taxed by Indiana. Please help!!!

[ThomasM125]

You have to file a Louisiana tax return since you have income from there. Your spouse does not under military rules.

You can claim Indiana as your resident state since it is your spouse's state of record. So, you would normally file as married-joint on your federal and your Indiana returns and as married-separate in Louisiana, just for you.

You could also file as married-separate federal and state as you have been doing. You should choose which method works best for you.

Indiana will be your resident state under whichever method you choose, so you should look for a credit for taxes paid to another state when you prepare your Indiana tax return.