topic Virginia State Tax married filing seperate in State tax filing

Virginia State Tax married filing seperate

JG693 — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:11:53 GMT

I am in the military and my home of record is Texas but have lived in Virginia for 2 years with my spouse. She had a job in the state of Virginia for most of the year. We completed our federal taxes and files jointly with no issues and have already received our return. When trying to complete the state taxes it transferred our information and all of a sudden says we must file "married filing separately". This has never happened, so I am confused about how to rectify the situation.

Re: Virginia State Tax married filing seperate

MaryK4 — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 22:25:38 GMT

To clarify, are you filing as nonresidents or residents? In Virginia,

Nonresidents use Status 4 - Married, Filing a Separate Return: A separate Virginia return MUST be filed if both husband and wife are nonresidents and both had income, but only one had income from Virginia sources.

Residents use Filing Status 3 - Married, Filing a Separate Return: If you and your spouse filed a joint federal return, but only one of you is a Virginia resident, the resident must use Filing Status 3.

Since your active duty pay is Texas income under the SCRA, you cannot file a Virginia tax return Joint with your spouse.

Also, spouses may be eligible to use your legal residency. For additional information, see the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act: Frequently Asked Questions, in which case her income would be Texas as well and you would not have to pay income tax on it

Re: Virginia State Tax married filing seperate

JG693 — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 23:31:37 GMT

Thank you for the reply, and I filed as a nonresident for myself and a resident for her since she was employed and paid VA state taxes all year. I believe she may be exempt after reading the link and I will look to submit the form for reimbursement. By doing that...does that mean that the state of Virginia would process our state return the same as a mail in package or would I be waiting for a return letter that in order to complete the tax return?

Re: Virginia State Tax married filing seperate

MaryK4 — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 23:59:57 GMT

She can file the nonresident return and claim zero Virginia income to get her withholding back. She should also contact her employer to do a new VA-4 for this year and they will stop state withholding (unfortunately, you will probably have to file a nonresident return again next year to get the 2022 already withheld).

In TurboTax, start Virginia again and it will ask Did you make money in Virginia in 2021, but never live there? (answer NO) then-

What was your state of residence in 2021? (I made money in Virginia last year but I never lived there)

Tell us more about your 2021 Virginia income (My employer mistakenly withheld Virginia tax from my income.)

Then you will be able to enter the amount of withholding for the refund.

@JG693