Joint Filing Resident and Nonresident State (Military)

[Gregizuhbaws]

I am a military member stationed in Illinois. My wife (non-military) has two jobs, one of which has an Illinois address on W-2 and one which has a Missouri address on W-2. I followed the video provided by TurboTax which explained to update personal information -> other state portion then file the state return for Missouri first, however it keeps asking me about my pay in Missouri as a military member. I am not stationed nor do I live in Missouri and I do not want to mess up the return for Missouri state. For additional clarification, she does not work in Missouri but the W-2's address lists Missouri because it is for the applicable region.

[KrisD15]

Is Illinois your (and your wife's) Home Of Record? 

[Gregizuhbaws]

My home of record is Tennessee because this is where I enlisted from. With that being said, we own a home in Illinois so technically it is her home of record? I could be wrong.

[KrisD15]

You should both claim Tennessee as your Home Of Record. 

The Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018 allows the spouse to claim the same residency as the military member. Owning a home in Illinois is of no consequence. 

If any state tax was withheld, a non-resident state return may be filed to get that tax back as a refund.  

Go back through the Personal "My Info" section and change her residency to TN. 

Thank you for your service.

Veterans Benefit Act

[Gregizuhbaws]

If I have her claim Tennessee as Home of Record, we will still run into the problem of filing non-resident in Illinois and Missouri. What is the best way to fix this? Wouldn't it still ask me all of the questions about withholdings in Illinois and Missouri?

[JohnB5677]

I'd like to clarify your wife's two W-2's.  Did she work in both states, or is that the address of the company.  The company address is on no consequence.  What does mater is where she did the work.  I'm going to proceed as if she worked in both Illinois and Missouri.

I agree with KrisD15.  You should have your wife claim Tennessee as her home of record. 

1. You will first prepare a federal joint return.
2. Now prepare the Missouri return as a nonresident and allocate only the Missouri Income
3. Prepare an Illinois Nonresident return for her Illinois Income.
4. Finally prepare the Tennessee return. 
   1. All of your combined income will show up.
   2. You will get credit for "Taxes paid to Other States."

How to file a Nonresident State

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800-342-9647.

[Gregizuhbaws]

Thank you for the reply John and Kris. She does not work or commute in Missouri. One of her W-2s has an Illinois business address and the other has a Missouri business address. Neither of us are in Missouri. When I file the non-resident Missouri, it asks me what duty station I am at in Missouri and about my income. Do I just leave these pages blank since they are not applicable? It just seems like a difficult process that would be easier if we file separately because TurboTax would not ask questions of me that only apply to her. One of my concerns is leaving these entries blank then having to file again due to it being incomplete. Also, if she only works in Illinois and her W-2 is listed as Missouri because of the company, does this mean we do not need to file with Missouri even as non-resident? Thank you for the quick responses!

[DaveF1006]

She will not need to file a Missouri return if she worked strictly in Illinois. The only reason why she might need to file a Mo state return if there were wages reported to he State of Missouri.   if that did not occur, there is no reason for her to complete a Missouri return.