topic If my wife lived and worked in Colorado, then moved to Alabama with me for a military move and worked in Georgia. Where does she need to file state income taxes? in State tax filing

If my wife lived and worked in Colorado, then moved to Alabama with me for a military move and worked in Georgia. Where does she need to file state income taxes?

mjrogowski — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 19:14:45 GMT

Does your share your state of residency, or have a separa...

DanielV01 — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 19:14:46 GMT

Does your share your state of residency, or have a separate one? What is your SLR?

My SLR is Iowa.

mjrogowski — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 19:14:48 GMT

My SLR is Iowa.

Did your spouse ever establish residency in Iowa with you?

DanielV01 — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 19:14:49 GMT

Did your spouse ever establish residency in Iowa with you?

No she did not. She lived in Colorado all her life then m...

mjrogowski — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 19:14:51 GMT

No she did not. She lived in Colorado all her life then moved to Alabama with me after we got married. We spent 185 days in Alabama in 2018.

She will need to file Colorado and Alabama part-year resi...

DanielV01 — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 19:14:52 GMT

She will need to file Colorado and Alabama part-year resident returns, and a Georgia nonresident return. Because she has not established residency in your SLR, her state residency will continue to change every time you are PCS'ed to another state, until she can establish residency in the same state with you. So, for this example, she ceased being a Colorado resident for tax purposes once you moved out of Colorado. She became an Alabama resident. But, the first part of the year she was a Colorado resident, so her income she earned in Colorado is only taxed there.

The income she earned in Georgia is taxed in both Georgia and Alabama. However, to reduce the effect of double-taxation, she will be able to claim a credit on her Alabama return for the tax she pays to Georgia on the income earned there.

Prepare the state returns in this order: Georgia first (always start with the nonresident state), then Alabama, and then Colorado. Make sure that the credit for taxes paid to another state is reported to Alabama and not to Colorado.

You may want to learn more information about the MSRRA, because it will simplify your state tax filings if you can establish residency in the same state. Here is an FAQ which describes this in more detail: https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3302300

Sounds good. Thanks for the help.

mjrogowski — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 19:14:53 GMT

Sounds good. Thanks for the help.

You're welcome.

DanielV01 — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 19:14:55 GMT

You're welcome.