Filing status transferred incorrectly from Federal 1040 to Virginia Individual (Form 760)

[RVA2002]

After filing jointly for the 2021 tax year, my husband and I are filing separately  for 2022.  For the federal 1040 I am filing Head of Household this year.  Upon starting my Virginia return I noticed that the filing status is incorrect on the Form 760 and the worksheet.  It is showing my filing status as Single (filing status 1) and I assume that it should be Married filing Separately (filing status 3). I also noticed that on the VA Form 760 that the box is Not checked to indicate Federal Head of Household. I assume that this box should be checked since I am filing head of household on the form 1040.

Is all this information supposed to be transferred by Turbotax automatically from my federal return? Is it transferring incorrectly?

[RobertB4444]

Married filing separate people are not able to claim head of household.  You have confused the system with two separate requests.  You need to go back to the beginning and tell it one or the other.

If you were married as of December 31st, 2022 then you are counted as married for the whole year.  The exception to this is couples who are either legally separated or currently divorced who did not live together for the last six months of the year.

If you meet the exception rules and you are certain that your husband is filing as 'single' and not 'married filing separately' then you can attempt to file as head of household.

If your husband is filing as married filing separately then you have to as well.  

@RVA2002 

[RVA2002]

In my original post I failed to state that I believe I am allowed to file as Head of Household because of the following as it relates to my status:

- my husband did not live with me for the entirety of 2022

- we are separated as of 12/31/2022 with a property settlement agreement. (Virginia law does not recognize a "legally separated" status. You are either legally married or divorced.)

- Therefore, I think we qualify as "unmarried" as defined by the IRS

I think my confusion concerns my Virginia tax return. I originally assumed it should show my filing status as "Married Filing Separately" since we are still legally married. But now I think my filing status should be "Single" since the IRS considers us "unmarried"??  Do you think my status should be "single" on the Virginia return? If so, then it looks like TurboTax correctly transferred my status from the federal return. 

Also, I was thinking my husband would be filing as "Married filing Separately" on his 1040. Now I'm thinking it should be "Single" if I file my 1040 as Head of Household. Do you agree?

Thanks for your help!

[ThomasM125]

If you are legally married, you can only file as married-separate or head of household on your federal return. It seems you qualify as head of household since your spouse did not live with you for the last half of the year. In Virginia, you need to choose filing status 1, which is the same as for a single filer, if you filed as head of household on your federal tax return. Your spouse should file as married-separate if he does not qualify as a head household.