Hi

I have already Filed Federal Tax return (Married Filing Joint) with my SSN (H1visa) & applied for ITIN for my wife (H4 visa). She moved to US in Sept 2009.

According to MA State Tax for Married Filing Jointly on the website it says that:

Taxpayers may file married filing joint if the following two conditions are met:

1. they must be legally married as of the last day of the year; and
2. they must have a Massachusetts taxable year that begins and ends on the same day.:confused:

I would like to know whether I should file Married Filing Separate as she doesn't meet the 2nd condition. In that case I would not be able to claim her as dependent, as it was done on federal tax.
She had no income in 2009 so she won't be able to file a MA state tax return if I file Married Filing Separate.

You can file joint return for Massachusetts.

Hello,
Thanks for the response.
I have doubts though.

When I read through the instructions for filling FORM 1 for MA state tax, there are certain rules to be followed while filing joint returns. First one if, both spouses should be staying in MA for the same period. This is not the case with us. I lived in MA all year, but, she came to USA only in sept 2009.

Also, another issue is that I have her insurance only from Sept through Dec, so she is a part year resident of MA. But, on schedule HC, it does not ask to provide any documentation for the reason that she did not have insurance for the whole year. So, the form directly assesses a penalty which of course seems invalid.

We are trying to fill in our tax returns oursleves, so any detailed response as to how can we proceed will be very helpful.
Thanks

Hi

helpneeded123, just curious to know, what was the result your spouse's insurance. Even I am in a similar situation and would like to know how to proceed.


Thanks
Ren