California community property

[dirk_diggler 107]

I'm a california resident planning on MFS. My wife has never been to the U.S. so she is not domiciled in CA. Since my wife is not yet domiciled, is it true that all my income in 2013 can be considered "separate income"? this is the feeling i get from reading CA tax documentation, but it's not laid out explicitly anywhere that i have seen. thanks

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

I'm a california resident planning on MFS. My wife has never been to the U.S. so she is not domiciled in CA. Since my wife is not yet domiciled, is it true that all my income in 2013 can be considered "separate income"? this is the feeling i get from reading CA tax documentation, but it's not laid out explicitly anywhere that i have seen. thanks

I don't know about California law but for Federal tax purposes your income is not community income. See the paragraph labeled "Nonresident alien spouse" in the middle of the left column on page 8 of IRS Publication 555 - Community Property. Here is a link to the publication: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p555.pdf

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Even though your spouse never domiciled in California, under California community property, she did earn half of your income earned in the State of California, that is half of what you earned in the state of California for any year in which you were married.

[dirk_diggler 107]

Even though your spouse never domiciled in California, under California community property, she did earn half of your income earned in the State of California, that is half of what you earned in the state of California for any year in which you were married.

Thanks for the info. Does it apply for the whole year even though we got married in the middle of the year?

I've tried googling around a bit and have only found this as the 'official' CA tax resource: http://www.taxes.ca.gov/Income_Tax/newind.shtml#CommunityProperty2%C2'>

Info on that page is a bit sparse and has a few broken links... if you have a quick pointer to some better documentation i'd appreciate it

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Just bits and pieces. Try googling "California non-resident spouse". Luckily, California's income tax rates are extremely progressive, so unless you made lots of money, the additional tax liability won't be that much.

[dirk_diggler 107]

Just bits and pieces. Try googling "California non-resident spouse". Luckily, California's income tax rates are extremely progressive, so unless you made lots of money, the additional tax liability won't be that much.

thanks, I read up more on it. so it seems that my wife will have to file (or request an extension) since she technically has california income due to the community property rules. is that right?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

thanks, I read up more on it. so it seems that my wife will have to file (or request an extension) since she technically has california income due to the community property rules. is that right?

That is the way I read it. US tax law is so much easier to follow than California's, which conforms to Federal law, except when it doesn't. What other state's long return is seven freaking pages - five for the actual return, and two more pages to make adjustments for where it differs from Federal law.

[aussie_jason 195]

As inane as it sounds it does seem like she has in fact domiciled in CA - https://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/fileRtn/Nonresidents_PartYear_Residents.shtml and the referenced publication - https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2011/11_1031.pdf