Filing Virginia mock MFS return for sole part-year (now non-) resident spouse with VA income

[NortonNork]

I am a Virginia part-year resident with Virginia source income.  I moved out of Virginia in 2024.  My spouse is a non-resident with no Virginia source income.  I completed a mock MFS Federal return for myself and TurboTax correctly used that data to populate my Virginia Form 760PY and adjust for the part of the year I was a non-resident.  So far so good. Great job TurboTax generating the return!

My question is about filing.  If I e-file, I must submit the Federal and Virginia returns together, or at least in the sequence of Federal before Virginia. That will cause the mock Federal return data to be submitted to the Virginia tax authority. But in reality, my spouse and I will be submitting a MFJ Federal return in our non-Virginia domicile state of Delaware.  So it seems by e-filing I am misrepresenting to Virginia that I filed a Federal MFS return.  Can I e-file anyway?

If not, and I file my mail, the return must include a paper copy of my Federal return. Is it correct that I must submit the paper copy of the mock MFS return, and not the MFJ copy that we will actually file with the IRS?  And if I do submit the paper copy of the mock MFS Federal return, do I need to annotate somewhere that the MFS Federal return is not what I actually am submitting to the IRS?

Thank you for answering my question.

[AmyC]

Yes, the mock federal will be filed with VA whether you mail or efile. The states and the IRS all compare returns to ensure your income is properly accounted for on the forms. VA will see the other state and the other income on the federal version that you filed in reality and see their mock version is what they needed for your VA return. 

It seems bizarre at the surface level but it works when all put together.

Virginia can be filed without filing a federal return first so you can efile the VA and the mock federal will go with it.  Do not efile the mock federal to the IRS. Please read the rules here.