Filing with spouse in different state

LevonB

I was a full year Massachusetts resident, spouse was a NY resident for a couple months at the beginning of the year. She received <$2k in that time before becoming a Massachusetts resident and earning her primary income in Massachusetts.

We're filing a joint federal and a joint Massachusetts return, how should we approach filing for NY?

TaxMorgan

Hello LevonB,

Since your spouse was a part-year New York resident and you were not a NY resident at all, she will generally need to file a separate NY part-year return (Form IT-203) using Married Filing Separately status. The option to file a joint NY return treating both spouses as full-year NY residents is only available when one spouse was a full-year NY resident, which does not apply here. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/filing_status.htm

To do this in FreeTaxUSA, you will need to create a second account for your spouse. In that account, enter only her federal information using Married Filing Separately status, then add the New York part-year return. When you are ready to submit, choose Print and Mail so that only the NY state return gets mailed. Do not mail the federal return from that second account, as your joint federal return will be filed from your main account.

It is also worth confirming whether your spouse is even required to file a NY return given the small amount of income earned there, as NY only requires a part-year return if her NY adjusted gross income exceeds the NY standard deduction. You can review the filing requirements here: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/file/part_year_residents.htm