Filing state tax in 2 states - married filing jointly - only one spouse liable?

My husb is a truck driver and his employer is based in Iowa. We live in Nebraska and file state tax here. He also has to file in Iowa to get back what was paid there since we only have to pay in one state. How do we do this so my income isn't included in the Iowa filing since I never worked there? Does he have to file separately first in Iowa, and then we file jointly in Nebraska? I usually use Turbo Tax. thank you!Filing state tax in 2 states - married filing jointly - only one spouse liable?
If your husband reports for work in IA then IA can and will tax his income earned there. You'll have to file a non-resident IA return showing only the income earned in IA. Then you'll file your usual NE resident return and take a credit on it for the IA taxes paid.





When you live in one state and work in another one you'll pay taxes in both your home state and the state where you work unless the two states have a reciprocity agreement in place. Check with your state's tax authority's website to see if NE has a reciprocity agreement with IA.





If there is a reciprocity agreement then only NE will tax the IA income. In that case you'd file an IA return showing $0 income to receive a refund of the IA taxes withheld. If this is the case your husband should have his employer stop withholding IA taxes form his wages. You may have to start making NE estimated tax payments to avoid any penalties for underpayment of NE income taxes if his employer cannot withhold NE state income taxes.





Edit: IA and NE do not appear to have a reciprocity agreement in place, so the procedures in the first paragraph will apply to your situation. (And it appears that the trolls and the clueless are hard at work this morning. They give this a tumbs down rating but don't even bother to post their own responses.)Filing state tax in 2 states - married filing jointly - only one spouse liable?
Usually state taxes mirror the federal filing status. So if you want to keep it separate, you will have to file as married filing separately on your federal tax returns.





So you will end up filing 2 federal returns, 2 Nebraska returns, 1 Iowa return.