Military filing jointly, but residents of two different states.

[anthony3]

Hello!

I am having some issues with my return this year.

I am active duty military, and I am a Colorado Resident living in California, and my wife is a California resident living and working in California.

When I put in my W-2 all of the information for the return makes sense, but when I put in her W-2, the amount due to Colorado Increases and the overall federal return decreases. 

So why does the amount due Colorado tax increase and the federal return decrease when I add her W-2? She isn't a Colorado resident and has nothing to do with Colorado. 

If I calculate her return as if she was filing on her own, she would be getting a return on federal and state taxes. So why would adding her on as a joint filer make our combined returns smaller?

Should we just file married but separately? 

[NancyG]

Yes, you should file married separately - but only for Colorado and California.

The following information will walk you through the process.  

Basically you will be preparing a joint federal return with no state returns. This joint federal return is filed with the IRS.

Next you will prepare "mock" married filing separate federal return for yourself and your spouse.  The "mock" returns are not filed with the IRS, the are used to prepare the separate state returns that will be filed with Colorado and California.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3301995