I am living and working in CA. My husband is living and working in Minnesota. HE is living in the house we own. What's the best way to file our taxes? I am a full time resident of CA and we both have deductions.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Why don't you just call the IRS help desk and explain the situation and ask how to proceed. If you both claim different states it will probably be "married, filing separately" and you each file a return.

You SHOULD investigate the option of filing Married Filing Separately for your federal and state returns; it MAY prodice the best result.

However, you CAN file jointly for the federal and state returns and opt to have only the income earned in each respective state taxed by that state, but at tax rates dictated by your overall income level.

If this sounds complex, you are correct in that assumption, so you should seek help from a competent tax professional.

If hyou want my professional help, email me at the email address in my profile.

Assuming that filing as Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) makes the most sense for your federal return, California allows you to file as Married Filing Separately (MFS) for your CA income tax return, even though you file as MFJ on your federal return, as long as your husband has not been a CA resident at all during the tax year and has no CA-source income; see: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/Filing_status_information.shtml

Unfortunately that option is not available in MN, so you would have to file as MFJ and report your income as well as his. But the good news is that you can then take a deduction for taxes paid to other jurisdictions (namely CA), with the net result that you will not be taxed by MN on your non-MN income.

I would recommend that you use a tax preparer - even someone like H&R Block will do a good job for you at a small price. I find they always find savings for me that more than pay their fee, that I would not find. They can also very quickly run your taxes separately, as married living separately and as married and tell you which method would be most advantageous for you. There may also be some expenses you might be able to deduct that you might not otherwise think of.