MFJ while living in different states

Hi henry720,

You have a few options if you wish to file a joint federal return for the year.

1. You can choose to file as Married Filing Jointly for the federal, NY, and NJ returns. Doing that, you would generally file as a full-year resident of both NJ and NY. All income earned by both spouses during the year would be taxed by both NJ and NY. This is not a great option, as both spouses' incomes will be taxed by both states.
2. You can choose to file joint federal and NY tax returns, but file separately for NJ. If you choose this option, all of the income earned by both spouses will be taxed on a full-year resident NY tax return. Since spouse #2 had no income, this will likely not cause any problems for you. For NJ, you would create a separate account to file NJ as Married Filing Separately—this way, spouse #1's income will not be taxed by NJ. I will cover how to do this a little later.
3. You can choose to file a joint federal return, but file as Married Filing Separately for both NY and NJ. If you choose this option, you will need to create separate accounts to file NY and NJ as Married Filing Separately. See below for details.

At this time, our software requires that if you file joint on the federal return, you must also file joint on the state return. Additionally, our software requires that you send the federal and state returns from the same account when e-filing your state returns.

If you wish to use our website using option #2 above, you will need to create two accounts. You would e-file your federal and NY returns together on one account, but mail the NJ return from a separate account.

If you wish to use our website using option #3 above, you'll need to create three accounts. You can then e-file your federal return, but you'll need to send paper forms to your states.

Here's what you'll need to do:

Account One:
On this account, you would file as Married Filing Jointly. Enter the information for both you and your spouse. In the Filing menu, only order the federal return (not the state return). Then, follow the steps in the Filing menu to file your return. (If you choose option #2 above, you would file your federal and NY state returns from this account)

Account Two:
On this account, enter your information and select Married Filing Separately as the filing status. Only enter your income and expenses. Purchase a state return and choose to Mail your Federal and State Returns. Continue through the software until you get to the final screen under the "Final Steps" tab. Instructions for mailing your state return will be located on this screen. If you are asked to mail in a copy of your federal return with your state return, include a copy of your actual Married Filing Jointly return, not the "mock" return created in this account. (If you choose option #2 above, you would file the NJ tax return from this account.)

Account Three:
On this account enter your spouse's information and select Married Filing Separately as the filing status. Only enter your spouse's income and expenses. Purchase a state return and choose to Mail both your Federal and State Returns. Continue through the software until you get to the final screen under the "Final Steps" tab. Instructions for mailing your state return will be located on this screen. If you are asked to mail in a copy of your federal return with your state return, include a copy of your actual Married Filing Jointly return, not the "mock" return created in this account. (If you choose option #2 above, you will not need this third account.)

You may want to keep record of each account in case you need to do this for following years.

Hi henry720,

I apologize that I didn't include my source links in my original reply. You are correct that some states allow you to file using a different state filing status than the status used on your federal return, but not all states allow that.

New York and New Jersey both typically require that you file your state returns using the same filing status you used on your federal return. However, both of these states have exceptions for situations where one spouse is a full-year resident of the state, and the other spouse is a non-resident of the state.

New York:

"In most cases, you must use the same filing status you used on your federal return. If you did not have to file a federal return, use the filing status you would have used if you filed.

The only exceptions are for certain married couples filing a joint federal return in the following situations:

-One spouse is a New York State resident and the other is a nonresident or part-year resident. In this case, you must either:
-file separate New York returns using filing status ③; or
-file jointly, as if you both were New York State residents, using filing status ②."

See page 6: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/2023/printable-pdfs/inc/it201i-2023.pdf

New Jersey:

"In general, you must use the same filing status as you do for federal purposes…If during the entire tax year one spouse was a resident and the other a nonresident, the resident can file a separate New Jersey return. The resident calculates income and exemptions as if a federal married, filing separate return had been filed. You have the option of filing a joint return, but in that case, your joint income would be taxed as if you both were residents."

see page 5: https://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/pdf/current/1040i.pdf