I moved and got married in same year:
Before marriage: Collecting unemployment from PA
After marriage: Collecting income from NYC employer
My wife worked and lived in NY the entire time.

How do we file - if jointly, do I do another state return for PA as married filing separatly?

You file as married because that was your status as of December 31. You file a part-year resident return for PA and a part-year resident return for NY as well, and your wife files with NY as a full-year resident. You will probably find that filing as Married Filing Jointly is the best for your federal return. For PA you have the option of filing as Married Filing Separately, so consequently your wife does not need to report her income to PA. For NY you are required to file separately - you file as a part-year resident and your wife as a full-year resident. See page 6 of the NY instructions: http://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/2010/inc/it203i_2010.pdf

Thanks for your help.
I can do that, though - file jointly for federal, but separate returns for states?

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Originally Posted by atmatm

Thanks for your help.
I can do that, though - file jointly for federal, but seperate returns for states?

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Yes - check the instructions for both states. Both NY and PA actually require you to file separately if you and your spouse have different residency periods in state, even though you file jointly for your federal return. I included the NY instructions previously - did you read what it says on page 6? As for PA, here are their instructions - see page 8:
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal...pa-40_book_pdf

Only you need to file in PA - your wife does not as she did not live in PA or have any income from PA.

Yeah, read the NY one... thanks for the reference to the PA one

Thank you very much for your help. It seems like this should not be as complicated as I originally thought, since our incomes are only W-2's and PA unemployement for my part-time residency in PA.

I appreciate your help, greatly.

I am going to read up on the PA and NY details again, and maybe post some more Q's early next week. Feel free to check back, though I would appreciate if you would.

Thanks again, have a good weekend.