It varies state by state.
For California: if you file a joint tax return for federal purposes, you may file separately for California if either spouse was either of the following:
- An active member of the United States armed forces or any auxiliary military branch during 2019.
- A nonresident for the entire year and had no income from California sources during 2019
Community Property States: If the spouse earning the California source income is domiciled in a community property state, community income will be split equally between the spouses. Both spouses will have California source income and they will not qualify for the nonresident spouse exception.
California Personal Income Tax Booklet
For Massachusetts: A joint Form 1 is not allowed if both spouses were not Massachusetts residents for the same portion of 2019. 2019 Form 1 Instructions
Massachusetts is not a community property state, so if you file separately there you only report your own incomes.
You can use TurboTax Online to file separate state returns, but we recommend you use the CD/Download software version to do this because you'll only need to pay for one TurboTax product (you can file up to five returns).
Tip: If you already started your return in TurboTax Online, we recommend that you transfer your tax file to the CD/Download version. You will save time by entering less information.
Here's a brief overview of the procedure, see the sections below for detailed steps:
- Prepare one married filing jointly (MFJ) return to file with the IRS.
- Prepare a mock married filing separate (MFS) return for each taxpayer. This is for your records only, and will be used to generate separate state returns for each person. The mock federal returns are not filed.
- Then for the first taxpayer, label and use the first mock MFS federal return to prepare their state MFS return. Use only their income and their half of the deductions from the MFJ federal return.
- This ensures that TurboTax only transfers the first taxpayer's income to their married filing separate state return.
- File this MFS state return, not the mock federal return that it pulls the information from.
- For the second taxpayer (spouse), label and use the second "mock" MFS federal return to prepare their state MFS return. Again, use only their income and their half of the deductions from the MFJ federal return.
- File the second MFS state return, not the second mock federal return that it pulls the information from.
Be sure to name each TurboTax federal return so you know the MFJ federal return to file, and which mock MFS federal and state return is for which person.
Yes, this can be tedious, but this is often the best way to ensure you accurately minimize state tax situations with two different state incomes.
Note: State returns prepared using the mock federal returns will require you to print and file your state return by mail, please click here to learn more.
For detailed instructions, click the link below for the taxpayer(s) that need to file a state return.
Prepare a state return for the primary taxpayer
Prepare a state return for the secondary taxpayer (spouse)
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