We live abroad. My husband works for the US government, and I have no income. My husband files a joint federal tax return and a non-resident state tax return for the state he is from.
I consider myself a resident in another state (I still vote there, have a drivers license and family still there, and have never lived in another state), but I have not filed tax returns since living abroad because I had no income. Now in trying to get in-state tuition for our son in my state, they want to see my state tax returns. I have backfiled the last 4 years recently, but I am wondering if I even HAVE to file a state return since, I believe, I do not HAVE to file a federal return because I have no income. Am I wrong?
Thanks

Please clarify:

a. What state do you consider yourself a resident of? And for what state does your husband file a state income tax return (I assume he files his state tax as Married Filing Seperately)?
b. You said your husband files a joint federal tax return - which means you are included on that joint return as well. But then later you say you believe you do not have to file a federal return. Which is it?

I am a resident of Colorado, he of New Jersey. We file a joint return federally AND in both states (as mandated by both states - can't file jointly federally and separately state-wise). I am thinking that if I have no income, I can justify not filing in Colorado in past years because, in theory, I was not obligated to file federally. According to the Colorado revenue website you are obligated to file ONLY if you are obligated to file federally, and while I did file federally (jointly), in actuality I was not obligated to do so because my income was nil.

According to the colorado revenue website you are obligated to file ONLY if you are obligated to file federally, and while I did file federally (jointly), in actuality I was not obligated to do so because my income was nil.

Your income was not nil - it was whatever was reported on your income tax return. So in fact you are obligated to file a federal return.

When you did the back filing for CO returns did you report the income amounts that were on your federal joint return, and then take the credit for taxes paid to other jurisdictions (namely NJ)? That's how you would avoid paying any CO income tax, since NJ's tax rates are higher than CO's.

Your income was not nil - it was whatever was reported on your income tax return. So in fact you are obligated to file a federal return.

When you did the back filing for CO returns did you report the income amounts that were on your federal joint return, and then take the credit for taxes paid to other jurisdictions (namely NJ)? That's how you would avoid paying any CO income tax, since NJ's tax rates are higher than CO's.

My husband's w2 is the only source of income, I did not personally earn anything. He filed non-resident in New Jersey because we are abroad and, at the time, he was not obligated to file in New Jersey if not physically present there. It is the being abroad part that complicates things here. In filing the Colorado return I had to quote to the federal return, but I filed a separate form for couples with different state residencies, and it lets you indicate money you (the resident filer) earned while a resident of Colorado. I earned nothing, my husband earned everything, hence I put down zero (according to the IRS office in Colorado, this is the correct way to proceed).

I filed a separate form for couples with different state residencies, and it lets you indicate money you (the resident filer) earned while a resident of Colorado. I earned nothing, my husband earned everything, hence I put down zero (according to the irs office in Colorado, this is the correct way to proceed).

OK - that was form 104PN. Sounds good. So now that you've filed with CO all should be in order. Your original question was whether you were obligated to file in CO or not - and I think we've established that since you are obligated to file a federal return if you want to claim in-state residency the answer is yes.