How do I prepare our RDP return if we live in California, Nevada, or Washington state?

1. Start a return for yourself in TurboTax
2. When you get to the Were you maried? screen, select In a Registered Domestic Partnership (RDP)
3. Enter your income, deductions, and other information as they were reported to or incurred by you
4. When you get to the Community Property Income screen, answer Yes and Continue
5. On the Community Property Income Adjustments screen, enter the adjustment as determined by your state's rules
   • This is the amount that adjusts your actual income to your share of the community property. For example, let's say both partners' share of the community property income is $50,000 apiece and your actual income was $45,000. You'd enter a 5,000 addition to adjust your income to the community property amount of $50,000. (On your partner's return, they would enter a $5,000 subtraction; that'll come in Part II)
   • Use positive numbers for either adjustment
   • When finished, select Continue
6. On the Tax Withholding Adjustments screen, enter the adjustment (if any) for any withheld taxes from your W-2s and 1099s as determined by your state's rules
   • Follow the same guidelines in step 6, except tax withholding subtraction adjustment amounts should be preceded with a minus (-) sign
   • Don't include estimated tax payments, as they are considered separate property
7. Enter your partner's information on the Registered Domestic Partnership Information screen and select Continue

The next few screens all start with Community Property—for example, Community Property – Wages. On these screens, you'll want to:

• Verify the amounts in the You column
  • If wrong, go back to the source to correct (for example, to correct your wage amount, go back to your W-2 and fix the amount there)
• Enter your partner's actual wages, interest, dividends, self-employment income, and/or miscellaneous items
  • Tip: Jot down the information on these screens or better yet, take screenshots. This will come in handy when you get to Part II
• When you get to the Enter Your Partner or Spouse's Community Income screen, STOP. Write down the info in the You Reported column or take a screenshot

Save your return and close it. You're now ready to move to Part II.

Follow steps 1–7 in Part I, except this time enter the info for your partner.

When you get to the Community Property Income Adjustments and Tax Withholding Adjustments screens, make sure your partner's additions or subtractions counterbalance the ones you entered on your return.

For example, if you entered a $3,000 community property addition adjustment on your return, your partner will need to have a $3,000 community property subtraction adjustment so that the numbers from both your returns zero out.

On the community property screens with the You and Partner/Spouse columns, your partner's info goes into the You column (because it's their return) and the info from your return goes into their Partner/Spouse column. This is where the screenshots you took in Part I will help.

When you get to the last screen, Enter Your Partner or Spouse's Community Income screen, the information in the You Reported column on your return goes into the Your Partner/Spouse Reported column on your partner's return.

When finished, reopen your return and proceed to the Enter Your Partner or Spouse's Community Income screen so you can enter the information from your partner's You Reported column into your own return's Your Partner/Spouse Reported column.

Phew. On to Part III.

The hard part is done. On each return, go through the Review sections before moving on to the File section.

When you get to File, follow the instructions to file each federal tax return. IRS rules may prohibit community property returns from being e-filed in certain cases. That's OK – just follow the instructions to file a paper return and be sure to include a copy of the community property worksheet.

If you wish to file one or more state returns, proceed to Part IV.

Since you’re in a registered domestic partnership in California, the law requires you to prepare at least three federal returns if you want to file jointly in California. That means creating three accounts in the Online editions and paying for TurboTax three times. But if you use the Download edition, you pay just once with one account to prepare multiple returns. These instructions are for the Download edition.

If the two of you are filing separate California returns, the process is straightforward:

1. Open your returns and go to the Personal Info section
2. Proceed to the Your Personal Info Summary screen and select the first Edit
3. On the Were You Married? screen, select Married
4. Select No to Do you want to file this return together with your spouse? and Continue
5. Enter your partner's information on the Spouse's Info screen
6. (Optional) It wouldn't hurt to step through each federal return and run the Review again
7. Move on to the State Taxes section and follow the instructions to prepare and file your separate California returns

On the other hand, if you want to file your state return jointly, you have some extra work to do. You'll need to create a mock federal joint return which won't be filed with the IRS. Its only purpose is to transfer your combined info to your California return.

1. Start a new return for the primary taxpayer (this is who you want listed first on your joint return)
2. On the Were You Married? screen, select Married
3. Select Yes to Do you want to file this return together with your spouse? and Continue
4. Continue through the screens and follow the instructions to prepare your California returns
5. Print a copy of your mock federal return (along with your state return) for your records, but don't file the mock return with the IRS