andyau1 Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 I am filing a MFJ on 1040, but filing MFS due to husband being active in military and considered a PA resident with wife working in and resident of AL. Is there a way to communicate on the AL return that it will be a MFS return, or to basically unlink the Federal info? I can't find a way to do it other than to override all the information.....filing status, filer, SSN, etc. Even when I do override, it shows I'm getting a host of e-filing errors, due to W-2 amounts and such on the Federal not matching up to the AL state amounts. Well of course they won't match up, the federal is MFJ and the State is a MFS return. There has to be a better way to coordinate the filing status differences without overriding everything. Thanks much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 Depending on your software, you can probably label everything T and S on the MFJ federal return with both states and have your software create the two MFS returns. Delete a state from each MFS return. You'll e-file the MFJ federal plus one MFS with AL only/no federal plus one MFS with PA only/no federal. Yes, three sets of returns. But, you're really only doing the work to create the first MFJ federal return with two states. Then your software is doing all the calculations to create the next two sets of returns. Follow the flow to see if you need to make any adjustments. Just make sure your lines all add up to the MFJ return, except the taxes, of course. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyau1 Posted February 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 Brilliant Lion, thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jklcpa Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 Lion gave you great advice on how to process. Keep in mind though that with all but the most basic of PA returns, PA income rules do not follow the federal and so the two states may not exactly add up to the federal income. Just make sure that you've accounted for all the items of income and that they are properly flowing to their respective state returns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 Good point, Judy. You always have to follow the flow. The fed MFS can be added and compared to MFJ as one check. But, the states have their own rules. Follow the flow on each state for reasonableness. NJ, for instance, adds back into income some Box 12 retirement contributions, so the income the two states are reporting will never add up to the federal income. NY and CA and ... allow itemizing even if standard on fed. You have to prepare the returns, but your software can do a lot of the math and save a lot of data entry for you as long as you get your T/S/J labels. I don't use ATX, but my software starts with a MFJ vs MFS grid that I can adjust like any spreadsheet. If the mortgage was joint and paid joint, in the grid I'll try something other than 50/50 to see what benefits the couple as a whole. So, I can make a lot of changes easily and change again before I actually split. See what your software will do to help you help your clients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jklcpa Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 (edited) I was thinking more of PA gross income that may differ significantly. PA does not have any deductions and does not allow losses. PA taxable wages are always different for anyone that has pre-tax contributions to a retirement plan. PA doesn't allow the reduction for deferral to plans like 401k and taxes that as earnings and then generally doesn't tax it at retirement unless it is an early withdrawal. Edited February 19, 2020 by jklcpa typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 Yep, follow the flow, especially on the states. You're still the preparer and do the thinking. Your software can do some heavy lifting for you, keep you from typing in three sets of returns, for instance, and do lots of math, if you have everything in the right place. But, you have to follow the tax law of three governments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETax847 Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 Great advice! Thanks Lion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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