Hi,

I am hoping someone can help me. I am getting married in December. I will have been a California resident for 5 months of this year and New Jersey for 7 months. My partner has been in NJ the whole year. He has made significantly more money than me this year, and we are hoping to file a joint income tax for the year to take advantage of the tax savings from being married. But, I read that CA is a community wealth state, and I will have to report his income in California as well as mine. How do we do that so we don't get double taxed in CA and NJ?

Thanks!

AtlantaTaxExpert

Yeti:

You misunderstood the tax provisions for California.

You will NOT have to report his income on your California return. You WILL have to file jointly, but California can only tax you on your income earned while you were a California resident. Since he was NEVER a California resident and did not earn that income within the state of claifornia borders, California cannot tax his income. The federal Tax Court made that ruling back in the 1950s.