Ohio return not giving us joint filing credit because it says my income is below $500, which it is not. We qualify but turbo tax says we don't, which is wrong

[Hal_Al]

Each Spouse must have at least $500 of qualifying income to get the credit. But then any schedule A deductions must be subtracted from each spouse’s income to see if you each still have $500. In addition any Federal adjustments must be subtracted. A common example is an IRA deduction. Let's say the wife had $1500 of wages and put $1200 in her traditional (deductible) IRA. She would only have $300 of net qualifying income and the couple would not get any JFC.

Did you have any of the following:

-medical expenses exceeding 7-1/2% of AGI

-IRA deductions

-student loan interest deduction

-1/2 self employment tax deduction

-educator expense deduction

-alimony deduction

-529 plan contributions

-out of state military pay 

-Business income deduction

-any other adjustments on Ohio sch A

If so, and those items were deducted from your qualifying income,  that income may be reduced to less than $500.

[Hal_Al]

The income must be "qualifying" income. Typically only earned income (e.g. wages), unemployment and retirement income are qualifying income. Interest, dividends, capital gains and rental income do not count. (the latest instructions {2019-2025, maybe earlier] say everything is qualifying except those 4 items)

From the instructions:

To qualify for this credit, you and your spouse must each have at least $500 of qualifying income and jointly file your return. "Qualifying income" is any amount included in Ohio adjusted gross income, other than the following:
●Interest;
●Dividends and distributions;
●Capital gains; AND
●Rents and royalties

[cinder1492]

I did have medical deductions. We had a ton of medical this year. I can assign that to my husband and should be okay then. Thanks.

[cinder1492]

I did work and got a W-2. It was our ton of medical expenses.

[Hal_Al]

Q. I did have medical deductions. Can I assign that to my husband and  be okay?

A. Probably.

There is no hard and fast rule on how you allocate the amounts between the spouses.

• ·             If it's clear who paid it, e.g. it was deducted from one spouse's pay, allocate it all to him
• ·             You can split it 50-50.
• ·             You can put it all to the higher earning spouse.
• ·             I proportion mine by percentage of income, e.g. if the wife earns 40% of the income, allocate 40% of the adjustment to her.