still questions for 2 states return

[chenxiaotax]

Wife lives and works in GA all the year in primary house and husband lives and works all the year in WI(renting apartment). Both has W-2 (non-military).

How to file GA resident state return to only make wife's wage as taxable for GA?
How to answer these questions:

1. Was GA your state of residence all year?   Yes or No?
2. Did you have more than one state of residence in 2024? Yes or No?
If Yes -> Date of GA residency? Do we put whole year for wife or put weeks for husband?
If No -> what was your state of residency in 2024? Answer Just GA OR more than 1 state of residency? > Date of GA residency?
3. GA itemizes deduction using income ratio or time ratio? How income ration method get calculated?
4. GA return: Other state tax credit?(we should claim or not?)

    If YES -> enter AGI taxed by WI(Income tax and adjusted gross income)? How do we get these 2 numbers?

How to file WI resident state return to only make husband's wage as taxable for WI?

How to answer these questions:

Did you make money in Wisconsin in 2024, but never live there? YES or NO

If Yes -> pick resident of WI during all of 2024 for husband and
                       Nonresident of WI for all of 2024 for wife?

[MaryK4]

First you have to identify DOMICILE so that you can determine if you file a Resident of Nonresident Tax return for each state.

Proof of Georgia Residency | Department of Revenue

DOR Legal Residence/Domicile

For Georgia:

Full-year residents are taxed on all income, except tax exempt income, regardless of the source or where derived.  If one spouse is a resident and the other is a nonresident without any Georgia-source income, your Georgia return may be filed jointly or separately with each spouse claiming the appropriate exemptions and deductions.

For Wisconsin:

If you file a Joint Wisconsin return, all income must be reported, but only Wisconsin income is taxed.  

If you are a Wisconsin nonresident, you can file a separate Wisconsin return (see How do I prepare a joint federal return and separate state) then you can claim the credit for the taxes paid to another jurisdiction in Georgia (as your resident state).

[chenxiaotax]

Wife lives and works in GA all the year in primary house and husband lives and works all the year in WI(renting apartment). Both has W-2 (non-military).

In the Federal  "Personal Info" section we indicate that both wife and husband lived in GA on 31 Dec and we did not live in any other states. Also verify that "Married Filing Joint" is indicated. So both has 'GA' as state of residency. Still in the "Personal Info" section scroll down to "Other State Income" and we answer "Yes" that we earned income in another state and select WI from the menu. This will generate the WI non-resident state return.

Then when we move to WI and GA state returns. We don't know how to answers for residency.

Can you look at the questions I asked above, and indicate me the direct answers?

Thank you!

[MarilynG1]

1. If you consider yourselves both Georgia Residents, say YES (if considering that husband's Wisconsin residence was only temporary for work).  

2. In this case, say NO.

3. If you're both GA residents, don't worry about this, as all income for both of you will be reported on the GA return.

4. Yes, you will enter the tax paid to WI for a credit on your GA return.

A lot depends on whether you consider yourself a 'resident' of WI.  Here's some info from the WI DOR. 

Obviously, your state filings will be less complicated if consider yourselves Georgia residents, taking a credit for WI tax paid as a non-resident. 

See info in How to File a Non-Resident State Return and Why Would I File a Non-Resident Return. 

@chenxiaotax 

[chenxiaotax]

Thank you!

As you said we both consider ourselves as GA residency in Federal return, I will take your suggestion to answer GA residency questions.

Now for WI return, since husband lives in apartment most time of year in WI, how to answer these questions:

1. Did you have more than one state of residence in 2024?    YES or NO?

2. Did you make money in Wisconsin in 2024, but never live there?   YES or NO

   If  Yes -> resident of WI during all of 2024 for husband and
                   Nonresident of WI for all of 2024 for wife?

Do we qualify for married couple credit in WI?

Thanks!

[MaryK4]

1. Wisconsin does not have a state tax residency, so your husband does NOT have more than one state of residence in 2024.

2. He did live there, so NO.

If you are filing joint for Wisconsin and qualify, you can claim the Married Couple Credit.

@chenxiaotax