Married Filing Federal Jointly and State Separately

[smcraysjn]

Please see the below steps and subsequent question. 

1. I downloaded the TurboTax Desktop version. 

2. I filed a Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) Federal Return. 

3. I created mock Married Filing Separate (MFS) Returns for my wife and I. I live in CA and she lives in MA. 

4. I created state retruns for each mock MFS. I printed out each state return to mail. 

Question: Which federal return do I mail with the state returns,  the MFJ federal return or the mock MFS federal return? 

Thank you. 

Steve

[MaryK4]

Just to make you aware:

Use the same filing status for California that you used for your federal income tax return.

Exception: If you file a joint tax return for federal purposes, you may file separately for California if either spouse was either of the following:

• An active member of the United States armed forces or any auxiliary military branch during 2024.
• A nonresident for the entire year and had no income from California sources during 2024.

Community Property States: If the spouse earning the California source income is domiciled in a community property state, community income will be split equally between the spouses. Both spouses will have California source income and they will not qualify for the nonresident spouse exception.

Instruction Booklet for form 540