Spouses with legal residences in two separate states

[JBF59]

My wife's job is requiring her to become a resident of Florida for her job - something to do with how its payroll is handled. We have been living in Ohio together up until now.

If we split our legal residences, but split our time between Ohio and Florida with her legally changing her residence to Florid and me keeping mine in Ohio, would it be more advantageous to file as MFS or MFJ? 

Thanks!

[DavidD66]

It depends.  In most cases you pay more in federal income tax when you are married and file separately.  However, Florida does not have an income tax.  If you and your spouse file a joint federal income tax return, you MUST file a joint Ohio income tax return. If you and your spouse file separate federal income tax returns, you MUST file separate Ohio income tax returns.  I recommend that you calculate your taxes both ways to determine which filing status is most beneficial.  Calculating it both ways is easier done in TurboTax Desktop.  You can prepare your returns filing joint, then save the file with different names, thus creating two additional copies which you can edit to prepare returns for each of you filing separately.  You can create as many returns as you want with TurboTax Desktop.  For more information see TurboTax Desktop Software.

[JBF59]

Thanks David!