Hi,

I have a qn regarding taxes filing.

Me and my spouse are living in NJ.
I worked in NJ and lived in NJ
My husband worked in NY and lived in NJ.

We both filed federal jointly.

While filing NJ - we are filing jointly. But, there is something about getting credit for NY taxes. Since I did not work in NY, is it OK to file NJ jointly and take the credit for taxes paid in NY? Since the total income is sum of our incomes, the taxes credit don't look right. Hope am clear!

While filing in NY - should my husband file married filing single?

Yes, you can file joint return.
On NY tax return, you will report your husband's income, and you are nonresident for NY.
On NJ return, you will report both the incomes and take credit for taxes paid in NY.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by san_gee

Hi,

While filing NJ - we are filing jointly. But, there is something about getting credit for NY taxes. Since I did not work in NY, is it ok to file NJ jointly and take the credit for taxes paid in NY? Since the total income is sum of our incomes, the taxes credit dont look right. Hope am clear!!

While filing in NY - should my husband file married filing single?

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It is definitely OK to file as Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) for both your NJ and federal filings. What do you mean when you say the NJ return doesn't "look right"? Given the high tax rate in NY, I would expect that your NJ taxes should be relatively low after you take the credit for his tax payments to NY, unless your salary is substantially higher than his. Is that what you found?

As for filing in NY, your husband has to file as MFJ. From the IT-203 instructions:

If you filed a joint federal return and:
1) both spouses are nonresidents but only one has New York
source income, or
2) one spouse is a part‑year resident and the other is a nonresident with no New York source income,
you must file a joint New York State return using filing status 2 [meaning MFJ] and include in the Federal amount column the joint income as reported on your federal income tax return. However, only the spouse with New York source income (or the part‑year resident spouse) should sign Form IT‑203. That spouse must also complete Form IT‑203‑C, Nonresident or Part-Year Resident Spouse’s Certification (see Other forms you may have to file on page 9), and attach it to the front of Form IT‑203.

While you have to report all your income, you include only your husband's NY salary in the "NY State Amount" column.

Thank you all for the responses.

'look right' - the refund was high and I wasn't sure if that was OK. But since you mention high tax rate in NY it makes sense. No, my salary is not higher than my husbands.

NY filing is also clear. Thanks a lot!