It's not letting me file my State taxes. It keeps saying I can't claim my spouse in filing head of household. But it won't let me make him a zero either. Form 40 Idaho

[gbrgss]

Why can't I claim my spouse in head of household on my Idaho return, but it does on the federal.

[VolvoGirl]

Huh?  You can never claim a spouse as a dependent.  You can not file Head of Household if you are married and live together.  You file a Joint return even if only one person has income.  You will get an exemption for your spouse the same as claiming a dependent.

[gbrgss]

We didn't live together for the later half of the year, he had no income, and is not filing a return, and no one is claiming him. I'm filing married filing separate head of household.

[SweetieJean]

Your Idaho filing status must be the same as the fiing status used on your Federal return.

[gbrgss]

Filing status is the same as my Federal! I filed my Federal in February. The Idaho will not allow it to pass without being fixed, that's the issue I have.

[SweetieJean]

Idaho is a Community Property States.That means that half of your income belongs to your spouse. Thus, your spouse cannot "have no income."

[SweetieJean]

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://tax.idaho.gov/pubs/EBR00175_10-17-2012.pdf">https://tax.idaho.gov/pubs/EBR00175_10-17-2012.p...>

[gbrgss]

Exactly, it ask if he had any income. The answer is no, because I put in my income already. It's asking if he had any income from work. Not if there was any income in the house. As in does he have any income to claim for taxes.

[SweetieJean]

But why aren't you filing Married Joint?

[SweetieJean]

Per Idaho, when fling separate returns, the community income, withholding, and deductions of both resident spouses must be divided equally between spouses.

[gbrgss]

We are not living together, also when I answered the questions that's what it told me to do. Head of household. Then it asked me if he was filing, if he had taxable income, if anyone else was claiming him, and so on.

[SweetieJean]

A married couple can still file Joint, even if they live apart.  How did Husband support himself in 2016?

[SweetieJean]

At this point, you should probably just print, sign and file your State return by mail. However, I am of the belief that you do not qualify to claim your Husband's personal exemption for Federal, due to the Community Property rules. Under those rules, he does have income, and he must file his own return.

[macuser_22]

i agree with SweetieJean.  Idaho is a community property state so income must be allocated between both spouses when filing separately.     Half of your community income is his so after filling out the 8958 form to allocate income you will probably find that he must file his own return and he will not qualify for the exemption on your return.   Filing a joint return will probably result in lower taxes.

[gbrgss]

He has no income. Lol he lives off his grandma and in her house rent free. Lol that's why, and on the income, it's not asking what our joint income is, it ask mine, then it ask for his. The first half of the year I supported him. Then realized he is worthless. So that is why he has no income to claim. I can't really ,1099 him. That's how you file your taxes. I agree though, I'm going to send them by mail get my money and be done with it.
Thanks you all!!!!