We live in a community property state. Married filing separately. My wife does not work. Does she has to file income tax because she now has half of my income? Thanks.

[andy_tran73]

If she has to file income tax, how does she file without a W-2? Thanks.

[Opus 17]

Yes, she has to report half your income and half your deductions.  

Technically, she reports half the community income.  Your income from working while you are married is income of the marital community, but if you or she has income that is not from the marital community (like investments that you owned before the marriage) that is probably separate income and does not need to be divided.  But it depends on the laws of your state.

Why do you want to file separately?  That results in higher taxes and lower refunds for most couples.  If you are trying to file separately to qualify for student loan payment reduction (IBR), you will see that the income splitting rule in community property states causes more problems than it probably solves.

[zoodle1015]

how many exemptions will each have

[ChristinaS]

If your wife doesn't work, why are you filing separately? On a joint return, you get double tax benefits while adding no income on her part.

A separate tax return in a community property state is complex, and you do need to allocate half of your income to her return if its considered community income. This is not done by entering a W2, but is done in the Community Property form (8958) screens. If she has no income under her name, she would proceed right to these screens.

Turbo Tax recognizes the need for community property questions based on filing status and selected resident state.

[TomD8]

See this: https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states