☰
✕
Sign In

Why sign in to the Community?

  • Submit a question
  • Check your notifications
Sign in to the Community or Sign in to TurboTax and start working on your taxes
Returning Member
posted May 13, 2021 10:03:08 PM

How do I do a Federal e-file (Married Filing Jointly), and State e-file (Married Filing Separately) ?

My wife and I live in two different states.  I have followed the instructions in reference link [1] below to create a Federal Return (Married Filing Jointly), and a State Return (Married filing separately). At the end of this step, I have


[a] One Federal return for my wife and I,

notes: This return was created under the "Married Filing Jointly" status.

comments: no issues here. I can e-file our federal return. I can choose not to go ahead with the state returns. In-fact it'd be wrong to e-file our state taxes under the "Married Filing Jointly" when we are living in two different states.

 

[b] One State return for myself

notes: This return was created under the "Married Filing Separately" status.

comments: I don't want to file my federal in this tax return. I just need to e-file my state return. How do I do that? The only way to get to the States e-file section is by e-filing federal first. And e-filing federal here would be wrong because I've already filed our federal under joint status (see bullet [a])

 

[c] One state return for my wife.

notes: This return was created under the "Married Filing Separately" status.

comments: I don't want to file my wife's federal in this tax return. I just need to e-file my wife's state return. How do I do that? The only way to get to the States e-file section is by e-filing federal first. And e-filing federal here would be wrong because I've already filed our federal under joint status (see bullet [a])

 

I have used the desktop version and all of the above returns; and, they exist in their own world (with a separate .tax2020 file).

Question:

[1] Is there a way to e-file federal tax return in [a], and e-file state tax returns in [b] and [c] ?

[2] One potential way is to e-file federal (married filing jointly), and paper file state (married filing separately) for my wife and I. Is this the only way out of this situation? 

 

Reference:

[1] https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/using-turbotax/help/how-do-i-prepare-a-joint-federal-return-and-sepa[product key removed]ns/00/25564

 

0 3 675
3 Replies
Level 15
May 13, 2021 10:06:00 PM

Sorry,  yes you have to print and mail the state returns.  

Level 15
May 13, 2021 10:10:26 PM

See the NOTE on that FAQ you linked to.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/using-turbotax/help/how-do-i-prepare-a-joint-federal-return-and-separate-state-returns/00/25564 

 

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.

Returning Member
May 13, 2021 10:43:35 PM

Thank you so much!

 

Federal e-file (Married filing Jointly): how does my wife sign this return? Is it just the two different Personal Identification Numbers we give towards the end of the e-filing step?

 

I have similar questions when I print out my wife's return and mail it to the IRS. Do I need to physically mail her the tax return, she then prints it out, signs it and then mails it to the IRS?

 

I'm a little confused when it comes to the signing part of the document....