Should my wife file with Hawaii on her account or I file as a none resident as Active duty military claiming Florida under my account for her Hawaii taxes?

[DanielV01]

Which one of you is military, and what is the active duty SLR?

[mgd21jdm]

The husband is military and claims Florida.

[DanielV01 · Accepted solution]

The wife can claim Florida too.  Prior to 2018, the MSRRA only allowed the Military Spouse (non Active-Duty) to claim the same state as the Active-Duty Spouse if the Military Spouse established residency at some point after marriage in the same SLR of the Active Duty Spouse.  However, late in 2018 Congress passed the Veterans Benefits and Transitions Act of 2018 (link contains PDF file), which allows the Military Spouse to elect the same state residence as the Active-Duty Spouse for tax purposes, including for 2018 (the year of the passage of the act).

Since, in this case, your husband has an SLR of Florida (a state with no tax), you will undoubtedly want to claim Florida for state tax purposes.  To do so, file a Hawaii return with zero income.  You will want to mail in the return, and at the top put a header:  Per Veterans Benefits and Transitions Act of 2018 I claim my husband's state of Florida as my legal residence.  Hawaii should refund any and all tax withheld.

You may also inform your HI employer of this election to stop having Hawaii taxes withheld.