Husband moved to Texas in June 2024, while I stayed in the same state (NJ) and I worked in NY for most of the year. How to file 2024 NJ return?

[PurpleRain123]

Here are further details for our 2024:

Jan 1 - Jun 18:

Husband: Worked and lived in NJ

Wife (myself): Worked in NY and lived in NJ

Jun 18 - Dec 31:

Husband: Worked and lived in TX (relocated for a new job so there is another W2)

Wife (myself): Worked in NY and lived in NJ till 9/15; Quit my job on 9/15 and flew to TX on 9/16 and stayed in TX for the rest of  year (still owned an apartment in NJ and I am considering coming back to NJ for work in mid 2025)

In 2023, we did MFJ for both Fed and State returns (full-year resident return for NJ and non-resident return for NY). In 2024, is it possible for us to still file jointly for our NJ return and exclude my husband's Texas sourced income? And if we file jointly for our NJ return, are we both considered part-year resident of NJ or just my husband being the part-year resident in NJ? We don't think his income sourced from his new job in Texas should be included in our NJ return, but we are not sure if/how the removal could be done in the NJ joint return and if so, where the adjustment/removal should be done in TurboTax online. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Mandy

[MaryK4]

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 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.

See How do I prepare a joint federal return and separate state

[PurpleRain123]

Thank you for your response. But since my husband resided in NJ for the first 5+ month of the year, we won’t be able do married filing separately for our NJ return here if we choose to file jointly for our federal return right? If we file jointly for our NJ return, can we still exclude his income sourced from Texas given he has moved out of NJ and was only a part-year resident?

[AmyC]

1. Correct. As a part-year resident, the status will be the same as the federal.

2. If he had moved to a state that taxes income, NJ would give you a credit for the double taxed income. Since TX has no state tax, filing as a resident, NJ will tax his income. If you file the NR for his Texas time, it will be excluded.

See here where the instructions state: Part-Year Residents. There is no part-year resident return. You may have to file both Form NJ-1040 to report income you received for the part of the year you were a resident and Form NJ-1040NR if you had income from New Jersey sources for the part of the year you were a nonresident.

Reference: NJ filling status and exceptions