Hi there, my spouse and I are filing state taxes separately (HI and SC). HI is adding our incomes together making me owe over 4k, while SC is only her income.

[tipman35]

My W-2 line 1is 39,661 and her line 1 is 61,306.  Her state taxes are leaving her gross income at 61k, while Hawaii is putting my gross income at over 100k even though SC is already taxing her, shes never even been to HI

[ThomasM125]

When you file separately, you should only add your income to the federal tax return and then prepare the state tax return. You will need to do two separate federal returns to prepare the two separate state tax returns. So, how did you add your spouses income onto your Hawaii return? It should only have had your income.

[tipman35]

Thanks for the reply!

So we are trying to file a joint federal return and separate state returns, is that possible?  The residency status page says "Hawaii allows you to file as married filing separately if you and your spouse reside in different states during the tax year."  I am also active duty military and haven't been back to Hawaii in over 3 years if that makes any difference.

[DawnC]

I am going to leave you full instructions to do what you are asking about (it can get messy), but I want to mention a few things that you may or may not already know.   Since you are military (thank you for your service!) your resident state for income taxes is your State of Legal Residence, usually your Home of Record.    Your spouse may be able to use that same SLR/HoR as her state too.

There are two terms used by the military to define your state of residence:

• Home of Record. Your home of record is the state recorded by the military as your home when you were enlisted, appointed, commissioned, inducted, or ordered in a tour of active duty. This is often the state you should continue to use as your tax home as you move from state to state (or overseas) on military orders.
• State of Legal Residency. Your state of legal residency (SLR) is your “Home of Record,” unless you changed it to another state. Changing the state on your paycheck records does not change your SLR.

To change the SLR, a DD Form 2058 must be submitted to your local finance officer and accepted.   From a tax standpoint, your State of Legal Residency (SLR) is considered your “domicile” or “resident” state as long as you are on active duty.   Even if you are stationed in another state, you’re still considered a resident of your SLR.

To find out if you need to file a state tax return when you aren't stationed in your resident state, check out Military Information on State Websites, which has links for active duty military and their spouses in each state. If you have non-military earnings, review Civilian Pay Earned by Active Duty Military.

IMPORTANT: The Military Spouse Residency Relief Act (MSRRA) describes where spouses of military service members can file state income taxes. For more information, see Military Spouses and State Taxes.

Residency Examples 

As an active duty service member, what is my resident state?

If I had a second job that was nonmilitary, do I file a different state return?

Which state tax return does my spouse file?

How do I prepare a joint federal return and separate state returns?   If you still want to do the joint federal and separate state returns......