This older TurboTax tips article on RDP still has some good information for this unique tax filing situation. Unmarried domestic partners can submit only individual 1040s; they cannot file jointly. How you handle the 1040 forms depends on which community property state you call home.
California domestic partners file as individuals for federal filing, however, under California law, the state return must be filed as a married return. This requires the creation of a “mock” federal return that reflects joint-filing status. This is just to get the numbers you need to fill in the sections of your state return that use numbers from a "Married Filing Jointly" federal return. This ”mock” federal return never goes to the IRS; you submit it with your California state return.
For Federal filing, each domestic partner prepares a separate federal return based on the Allocation Worksheet that you attach to it. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) created Form 8958 to allow couples in community property states to correctly allocate income to each spouse that may not match what is reported to the IRS. See this article for more information on Form 8958.
California is a community property state. When filing a separate return, each spouse/RDP reports the following:
- One-half of the community income
- All of their own separate income
Community property rules apply to the division of income if you use the married/RDP filing separately status.
See here for California FTB information on married or RDP filing separately and FTB Publication 737, Tax Information for Registered Domestic Partners.
Click here for tax tips for community property states.
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