Thanks Katie.

I did some reading in both state revenue websites and found we
are not eligible to file jointly in either of the states.

We lose some money in MA tax by filing MFS, but it's not a big
deal.

We decided to file jointly for federal and MFS for PA and MA,
which seemed easy compared to going through the hassle of
filing jointly and taking prefessional help.

I appreciate your response.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

horscorp wrote:

- quote -


Neither PA nor MA will allow you to file jointly if one
spouse is a resident and the other a nonresident, unless you
voluntarily treat the nonresident spouse as a resident.
Neither state conditions your filing status on your federal
filing status. You probably should file as MFS in both
states, although it may be worth your while to figure the
taxes both ways just to be sure. If you file jointly as
residents in both states, each state should give you credit
for the tax you pay to the other on the income sourced in
the other state. In other words, MA would give you credit
for the tax you pay to PA on your PA source income, and PA
would give you credit for the tax you pay to MA on your
wife's MA source income. But it is possible that neither
state will allow you credit for the tax you pay to the other
on income from intangibles such as interest, dividends, etc.

I'd be surprised if Turbo Tax would handle something as
complicated as this. You might want to think about getting
professional help with your returns this year to be sure you
get it right.

Katie in San Diego

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

My wife and I live in MA and PA respectively. We got married
last year and since we both are consultants and due to
apartment lease, we chose to keep our existing addresses.

we are using Turbo tax to file our taxes jointly. she earned
income as MA resident and I as PA resident. So I am assuming
I pay state tax only to PA on my PA income and she pays MA
tax on her MA income.

In personal information section in Turbo tax, it asks
information for TAX PAYER and SPOUSE.

everything seems ok until we generate the forms. Her MA
state tax return mentions me as tax payer and her as spouse
and all the taxable MA income as my income because my
information was entered in tax payer section, which didn't
seem correct.

If I enter her as tax payer and me as spouse, my PA return
shows her as tax payer with my taxable income.

Just not sure if it's ok to go ahead like this or not. I
appreciate your response.

we thought of filing as married filing seperate, but we have
a problem contributing to Roth IRA.

thanks,
horscorp

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >