Should my spouse and I file CT & NY State tax jointly given the following: - We live together in NY - I work in CT (all my income) - She works in NY (all her income)

[vauvs3]

I understand I need to file CT state tax first to get a tax credit to use for my NY state tax filing but can we file jointly on the CT state tax even if she neither lives or works there?

[vauvs3]

Additional info that may or may not be relevant; for the purposes of Federal taxes we are non-resident aliens and cannot file together (J1+J2 visas). However, from my understanding this doesn't mean we cant file jointly for state purposes as we have been in state for more than 300 days in the last year.

[TomD8]

See this: Does TurboTax handle Form 1040-NR for nonresident aliens? (intuit.com) 

[vauvs3]

Hi Tom,

Thanks but that is correct for federal, however, for state tax purposes I am classified as a resident. So the original questions remains.... 

[vauvs3]

what would your answer be ignoring the non-resident alien info?

[TomD8]

Under Special Rules for Married Individuals on page 1 of this CT tax reference, scroll down to the paragraph on non-resident aliens.  You'll find your filing options there.

https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DRS/Forms/2022/Income/2022-CT-1040NRPY-Instructions_1222.pdf

And this reference gives your filing status options for your New York tax return:

https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/filing_status.htm