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rmoore_09
Returning Member

Married in Sep 2023. Wife lived in DC prior, now she lives in VA with me. I itemized before (homeowner), she did not. How should we file our taxes?

As the subject says, my wife and I got married in 09-2023. Prior to getting married, she lived in DC and worked in DC throughout 2023. From 08-2023 until the end of the year she lived in Virginia with me and still worked in DC. I have lived in VA the whole time, and also work in Virginia. I have itemized my taxes for a long time due to being a homeowner. She does not itemize. How should we file our taxes. I completed a run through of our taxes as Married Filing Jointly and we owed a significant amount to DC, so should we be filing MFJ for Federal and then MFS for State? Any insight into particular things we need to make sure to complete when filing? Any help is appreciated!

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3 Replies
CatinaT1
Expert Alumni

Married in Sep 2023. Wife lived in DC prior, now she lives in VA with me. I itemized before (homeowner), she did not. How should we file our taxes?

Filing jointly will be the best option. For the states, you will file a part-year resident DC return and a resident VA return. DC should only tax the DC income. It may look like they are taxing your entire income but you will get credit for taxes paid to another state.

 

Individual Income Tax Special Circumstances FAQs

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rmoore_09
Returning Member

Married in Sep 2023. Wife lived in DC prior, now she lives in VA with me. I itemized before (homeowner), she did not. How should we file our taxes?

OK thank you! It does look like they're taxing our entire income.

 

Will I enter the credit amount for VA taxes paid within TurboTax when I do my return? Because I don't remember it asking me for that when I did the initial trial run. And what happens if VA state tax rate is less than DC's? Does that matter?

AmyC
Expert Alumni

Married in Sep 2023. Wife lived in DC prior, now she lives in VA with me. I itemized before (homeowner), she did not. How should we file our taxes?

Your resident state taxes all income but gives a credit for income taxed by another state.  Please carefully follow these directions to prepare the states in a special order. You may need to delete both states and begin again.

 

  1. First, prepare your part year resident DC return. This creates your tax liability for the non-resident state. How do I file a nonresident state return?
  2. Then prepare your resident state VA return and it will generate a credit for your income already being taxed in the part year resident state. 
  3. The credit will be the lower of the state tax liabilities on the same taxable income. You may owe your resident state,  if they have a higher tax rate along with differences in how the taxable income is calculated.

 

It isn't possible for the program to create a credit before it knows the liability. Your returns may be wrong if you do not prepare the states in this order.

 

You get credit for the lower state tax on the lowest taxable amount.

  • Each state calculates taxable income differently. 
  • Each state has its own tax rate/ system.
  • You get the lowest of both categories as a tax credit.
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