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Hawaii nonresident file
I was a resident in Hawaii but my wife was a resident in CA in 2018. For Hawaii state tax, can I file Individual Income Tax Return as Nonresidents with married filing jointly?
Unfortunately, no, you cannot file a joint Hawaii non-resident tax return if one of you was a resident.
You need to file as Federal Married Filing Jointly, California Resident Married Filing Separately and Hawaii Resident Married Filing Separately.
Here is how to do it:
1. Prepare one married filing jointly (MFJ) return to file with the IRS.
2. Prepare a mock married filing separate (MFS) return for each taxpayer. This is for your records only, and will be used to generate separate state returns for each person. The mock federal returns are not filed.
3. Then for the first taxpayer, label and use the first mock MFS federal return to prepare their state MFS return. Use only their income and their half of the deductions from the MFJ federal return.
o This ensures that TurboTax only transfers the first taxpayer's income to their married filing separate state return.
4. File this MFS state return, not the mock federal return that it pulls the information from.
5. For the second taxpayer (spouse), label and use the second "mock" MFS federal return to prepare their state MFS return. Again, use only their income and their half of the deductions from the MFJ federal return.
6. File the second MFS state return, not the second mock federal return that it pulls the information from.
Be sure to name each TurboTax federal return so you know the MFJ federal return to file, and which mock MFS federal and state return is for which person.
Yes, this can be tedious, but this is often the best way to ensure you accurately minimize state tax situations with two different state incomes.
Source: How To Prep MFJ and MFS Tax Returns
