Married and living in different states, MFJ for federal, what to do for state filing

[maashohel]

Hi, My wife and I got married in 2023. I live and work in MN, whereas my wife lived and worked in OH (177 days), and MI (188 days) during 2023.

I looked into some cases like this, where it is advised to do MFJ for federal, and MFS for state filing (preparing "mock" federal returns for both so that the individual incomes populate accurately to the state return).

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/married-and-living-in-different-states/00/3104099

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/my-wife-and-i-worked-in-different-states-we-are-f...

I have found this on MN statutes: "Individuals who are married to each other must file a joint Minnesota income tax return if they filed a joint federal income tax return." - Does that mean we can't use MFS for state filing (with the help of "mock" MFS federal) as outlined in the above discussion.

[Vanessa A]

Yes, that statement means that you cannot file federal jointly and state separately.  You must use the same filing method for state as you do for federal for MN.