State Filing/Federal Filing Status Issues.

K_Federoff · ‎March 20, 2022

I moved to a new state (Ohio) halfway through the year, and as a result I have to fill out two state forms. However, because I file jointly on my federal returns, I can't file as a single for the first state (Arizona), because my spouse never lived there and made her all money in the second state. So when I try to file my taxes for the first, it isn't able to complete them. Are there other online tax services that would help me file for just Arizona, or is there still a way to do them on Turbotax?

MaryK4 · ‎March 20, 2022

Arizona does not require the same filing status used on the federal return, Couples who are married on the last day of the year may elect to file separate Arizona returns even if the couple filed a joint federal return. Arizona is a community property state. A separate return must reflect one-half of the com-munity income plus any separate income. Community deductions and credits must be accounted for on the same basis as community income. Both spouses must either itemize or not itemize.

Were you a resident of Arizona? There are community property issues you may need to address, in which case you can file an Arizona joint return and designate the Arizona-only amounts so you would only be taxed on the Arizona income.

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Hal_Al · ‎March 20, 2022

Ohio does require you to use the same filing status as you do on the federal return.

Be advised that Ohio does a convoluted tax calculation for non-residents/part year residents. It calculates tax on total income, then it calculates a non resident/part year resident credit, which it subtracts from the tax it calculated on the total income. The credit is calculated as your non-Ohio income divided by Total adjusted Income multiplied by the total tax. TurboTax (TT) does this by allocating your income as either Ohio or non-Ohio. W-2 income will be allocated by the state name abbreviation shown in box 15 of your W-2. TT will ask you, item by item, in the state section, how much of your other income is Ohio or non-Ohio income. Make sure that your non-Ohio wages show AZ (Other state postal abbreviation) in box 15 of your W-2 screen, with the AZ amount in box 16.