MSRRA Question(s)

[cleocarter]

I'm a Maryland resident currently stationed in California, paying MD taxes. My wife (married Jan 2023) made roughly $900 in Virginia and paid VA taxes. Having a Maryland and Virginia W-2, would I file joint federally and separately for state? Trying to use TurboTax or H&RBlock, and this is where I'm confused:

HR: VA residency has me selecting Part-year (moved in or out, which she did, I didnt) or Non-Resident (Didn't live there but worked there and made money there). Which would I select? If I select Non-Resident, which seems to make more sense, it asks me if I'm MFS or MFJ. Selecting MFJ provides two options, either We both have Virginia Income or only I have Virginia income, which neither is true. Selecting MFS says I am the primary taxpayer, so it will be my MFS return, and then asks for information from the VA 760 form, which we don't have.

Would I just have to file a joint federal return, and then do two separate returns for each of our state incomes? It's my first time filing my own taxes, so I'd like to make sure I do them correctly. I really don't wanna have the IRS banging my door down because I did something wrong. I also don't want to pay for a Live Chat through either service or go in-store to file them if I don't have to. Any answers anyone might have are greatly appreciated!

 

[chiefofsinners97]

@cleocarter I can only speak from own experience. My spouse and I are both AD. I am a Nebraska resident and he's Tennessee (no state tax). We file our federal taxes jointly and it's pretty simple.

Nebraska is a pain in the ass though. They would not accept my "married filing jointly" even though there is a specific line and guidance on spouse's income from a different state (Tennessee) even with all his tax forms. They tried to claim taxes on his income and later they told me to do "married filing separately" and calculate my own numbers as if I'm single (since we do federal jointly). They also only allow to me snail mail it now because of the whole spouse situation.

Every state has their own rules. I'd advise just going to a professional this year to do both your federal and state. I tried to go to H&R but they would not help me with state because I did federal already with TurboTax. And even if you buy the "professional advice" with TurboTax they will just loop into help articles that don't actually help.

best of luck.

 

[cleocarter]

@chiefofsinners97 much appreciated. everything sounds like i’ll have to do two individual state returns for the both of us. just don’t want our federal to take too long to where i won’t be able to file my state in time

 

[davidolonge]

@cleocarter Make sure you check your state laws before you file federal. Some states won't allow you to file MFS if you filed MFJ on federal.