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What is my non-military spouse's state of legal residence if accompanying me overseas on military tour? What state(s) should she put on her W-4?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
June 1, 2019
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I am active duty Military serving overseas in Germany accompanied by my spouse. My state of legal residence and home of record is Illinois (which exempts military wages from state taxes). My wife has a Virginia driver's license, is registered to vote in Virginia, and Virginia was her last state of residence before moving overseas with me. Does she have to claim Virginia as her state on her W-4 and subsequent tax return? Her latest W-4 that we sent didn't have any state listed.

Additionally, I now owe Illinois state taxes because Illinois counted her income against mine since we are filing jointly. Since she didn't have Illinois on her W-4 we now owe all of those unpaid taxes on her overseas wages. She DOES NOT qualify for MSRRA since she has never established residency in Illinois.

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Best answer by BarbL

She is still considered a VA resident for tax purposes, until she establishes residency in another state when you return from Germany.

You will need to file a separate Illinois return for yourself, and a separate Virginia return for her. This will involve a few extra steps to complete, if you file a joint federal return. Instructions can be found here:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3301995

BarbLAnswer

She is still considered a VA resident for tax purposes, until she establishes residency in another state when you return from Germany.

You will need to file a separate Illinois return for yourself, and a separate Virginia return for her. This will involve a few extra steps to complete, if you file a joint federal return. Instructions can be found here:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3301995

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