How do I update gross income for amending NJ state tax return?

abhijaypatne · ‎November 8, 2025

Question: Our NJ state income is different than federal income. How do I update gross income for amending NJ state tax return?

Context: I stayed in NJ and worked in NY state in 2024. My wife worked in a different state for the entire 2024 and doesn't have any income from NJ sources. I filed my NJ state taxes as "married filing separately", but NJ state is counting my wife's income while calculating taxes.

I have received a notice from the NJ state that I owe taxes; they are calculating taxes on the combined income that we used for federal filing. After contacting them, they suggested that I amend the return to include only my income during the filing period. When I try to amend the return on Turbotax, I don't see an option to update my income. It's still pulling in our combined income.

How do I update the gross income so that it only counts my NJ income and doesn't add my wife's income?

Note that I've already selected I am not filng with the same marital status as I used on my Federal return.

TIA! Please let me know if any additional details will be helpful.

fanfare · ‎November 8, 2025

"Income Lines 15–26
Gross income means all income you received in the form
of money, goods, property, and services unless specifically
exempt by law. You must report taxable income from everywhere,
whether from inside or outside the State." --- NJ

Use Schedule NJ-COJ to get credit for income tax paid to another state.

@abhijaypatne

abhijaypatne · ‎November 9, 2025

Thanks for the reply, @fanfare! Is that applicable for all scenarios, though?

I was following this, which says otherwise

https://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/pdf/pubs/tgi-ee/git4.pdf

→ Married/CU couples: One is a resident and one is a nonresident If you and your spouse reside in different states for the entire year and only one of you lives in New Jersey, the resident spouse can file a resident return using the filing status Married/Civil Union Filing Separately, even if you are filing a joint federal tax return. The resident spouse calculates income and exemptions as if they filed a separate federal return.