This article explains what to do if taxpayers are filing as Married, Filing Jointly (MFJ) on a New York state return and only one spouse had a New York City change of resident status.
There's currently no way to e-file a joint state return that reports both a full-year resident's tax and a part-year resident's tax.
- The spouse who changed city residence must complete Form IT‑360.1 and submit it with Form IT‑201.
- The other spouse, if a full-year resident, must compute a separate New York City resident tax for the entire tax year on Form IT-201.
To create two MFS state returns using Lacerte
- Complete a MFJ return for federal purposes.
- Mark the return for MFS vs MFJ Comparison.
- Go to Screen 1, Client Information.
- Locate the Filing Status section.
- Check the box for MFJ vs MFS Comparison.
- Review the MFJ/MFS Worksheet in the Forms view to confirm amounts going to each taxpayer.
- Split the return to create two filings.
- From the Tools menu, select Split Joint Return....
- Click OK after reviewing the two new files that will be created.
- Complete and e-file a MFS NY return for the taxpayer.
- Complete and e-file a MFS NY return for the spouse.
For more information, see instructions for New York State Form IT-360.1