Question

Iowa Filing Status 4 - Married Filing Seperate Return. How to create two state returns for Iowa (Self/Spouse)?

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
April 19, 2023
1 reply
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Filing Married Filing Jointly return for Federal. For Iowa, it's better (less state tax) to file using Filing Status 4 (Married Filing Separate Returns). When selecting Filing Status 4 on the Iowa return, TurboTax creates a (mostly) accurate return for Self. How do you create a second Iowa return for the Spouse (using the same Federal MFJ return)?

SteamTrain

Employee

@jat1961

You can't do it quite that way.

You should start the IA tax return over from the beginning, and then select Status 3, which will be MFS on a combined IA tax return. Then you put in your separate incomes, in two columns, on a one IA tax return. Both of your MFS files are in the same tax file that way.

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The IA Status 4 you have selected, you cannot do it that way.

If you use Status 4, You would have to create two NEW separate dummy files.. (Two new files if you are using Desktop software...Two new accounts if you are using the "Online software)

1) A fully prepared MFS-Federal for yourself, with the status 4, MFS-IA attached. Then you would have to select file by mail (since you can't e-file the Fed)...and print and mail in the MFS-IA for yourself

THEN

2) A fully prepared MFS-Federal for your spouse, with status 4, MFS-IA attached. Then you would have to select file by mail (since you can't e-file the Fed)...and print and mail in the MFS-IA for your spouse.

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The IA Staus 3 eliminates all that and that MFS-IA on a combined IA tax return can be e-filed since it's in the same file as your MFJ-Federal.

____________*Answers are correct to the best of my knowledge when posted, but should not be considered to be legal or official tax advice.*